GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — In a city always on the move, time has stood still at the Dairy Queen on Walker Avenue.
“We’ve always run it the same way," said Kaitlin Franklin, 28.
It's had the same owners for over 65 years. Kaitlin has been here to witness a portion of that.
It all started thanks to her parents.
“They were having me go up to the window, fill out the application," she said. "“Every Sunday, they would drive me back to go check on my application... they’d make me get all dressed up.”
"I bugged them enough that they hired me," Kaitlin laughed.
She didn't know at the time, but it was a decision that would change her life.
“I’ve worked here for 14 years," she said, “It doesn’t feel like work.”
It's been 14 years filled with Dilly Bars — and she wouldn't change a minute of it.
“A lot of the other Dairy Queens have done away with making them themselves, they just order them prepackaged, but we are a little bit different," she said. "We make them homemade. Everything’s dipped from scratch, a lot of love goes into it."
“I think it tastes better, a lot of people think it tastes better," Kaitlin said.
This year started a little differently than the 13 before. Kaitlin learned the owners were looking to pack up the sprinkles and sell.
“I grew up with them, they’re like family to me," she said.
What she loved most about her job — “the staff, and the people, really” — would be changing.
“It would be new ownership, maybe someone the community didn’t know so well," she said.
Kaitlin and friend Jessie Barwin, the owners’ daughter, scooped up a plan.
“We kind of put our heads together and decided that we could do this together,” she said.
The friends would soon become co-owners.
"Just having that feeling that this such a special place for me, I wanna make our staff currently feel the same way," said Kaitlin. "Just kicking butt and running the Dairy Queen!"
In a place where time stands still, change is coming.
“The support was outstanding. It was overwhelming," she said. “It like, brought tears to my eyes."
The family-owned business will be saved by chosen family.
“We want it to go generation to generation," said Kaitlin. “It’s been my dream since the moment I started working here."
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