Fulton Street Dairy Queen Won't Reopen As New Ice Cream Shop

For a while there it sounded like a new ice cream shop would open in its place...

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Back in November we told you the Dairy Queen on Fulton St. on Grand Rapids West Side had permanently closed after all of the DQ logos and signage had suddenly been removed.

Scott Winters

Rachel Pieri, who had managed the business for 20 years shared to social media her intent to purchase the building with another longtime manager, Jason Nowak, and open a new ice cream spot this spring.

It sounds like that ended up not working out...

This week, Rachel shared an update to Facebook, saying,

I’m sure that plenty of people have noticed that the building that was once an ice cream place on the corner of Fulton and Lane remains empty. Jason and I were involved in managing this store and the property for over 20 years and it was our full intention to purchase it after the end of last season. This was an agreement we had with the ownership. While under active contract negotiations, we received a startling response two days before Christmas that all negotiations were being terminated and that we had 30 days to vacate. Our plans to open an independent, local ice cream shop were crushed in an instant... Unfortunately, we are no longer involved with anything that is going on with that property. Thank you for your patronage and support these past 20+ years. We certainly would not have continued that long if it wasn’t for the people of the Westside. So cheers to new opportunities as well as our cherished memories!

So what will happen to the former Dairy Queen on Fulton Street?

At this point we don't know, but we'll update you when we find out!

Hopefully Rachel and Jason are able to open their own ice cream shop as they'd planned. We'll keep you posted on that too!

(There IS another Dairy Queen in Grand Rapids, but sadly this is its last season. So get it while you still can! More on that here.)

In the meantime, now that its finally spring, tons of local ice cream stands are opening up.

Check out all the great spots to get ice cream in Grand Rapids:

Here's When Grand Rapids-Area Ice Cream Stands Open in 2023

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