After 10 years Bigfork Dairy Queen changes hands

After 10 years and a serious facelift the Bigfork Dairy Queen has changed hands.

Previous owners Sheila Thompson and Pam Roessmann sold the Bigfork Dairy Queen store last month.

The business partners bought the store in the spring of 2005. It had just been sitting empty and was in need of a lot of work.

“Pam and I just kind of looked at each other and said “we should buy that,” Thompson said.

Thompson and Roessmann have five children between the two of them, and at the time, they said there wasn’t anywhere open year round, and late enough, to give kids a place to go after athletic events.

They cleaned up the area around the building, re-painted the inside themselves, and added the drive through. It took “a lot of sweat and a lot of love,” Roessmann said. 

Over the years they have strived to serve the community, and they appreciate the support they received in return. While the decision to buy the shop had to do with giving kids a place to go, the decision to sell was spurred by their kids, who are now all grown and have scattered around to different states. No longer running a business will hopefully allow Thompson and Roessmann time to travel to see their children.

“We’d like to visit them a little more often,” Roessmann said.

However, they wanted to make sure they handed off the store to someone with similar values, who cared about the business and the community it’s in. It took a year to find someone who fit the bill.

They interviewed five prospective buyers who just needed to make an investment, but didn’t have the right values. They even turned down a cash offer.

“Our concern was mainly the community,” Roessmann said.

The store’s manager has been with them since day one, and will be staying on with the new owners.

“She does a great job and the crew does a great job,” Roessmann said.

The new owners have three other Dairy Queens, one in Hamilton and two in Missoula. Though the couple currently live in Washington, both are originally from Montana.

“They’re a really nice couple and they seem genuine about the brand and they definitely want to take care of the crew,” Roessmann said.

Though the owners are new, not much else will change at the Dairy Queen, and Roessmann and Thompson will still come by. “We’ve done quite a bit, it’s been great,” she said. “I guess we kind of feel we built a little family here. It all ended on a good note. We appreciate what Bigfork has done for us. We will be coming back, we like it.”