Dairy Queen’s Smith: COVID Brought Hard Work, Lessons

Christine Smith, part-owner of Dairy Queen stores in Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, Cornersburg and Columbiana, is coming back strong, along with her husband and partner, Ray Smith. You can read more about Christine at her LinkedIn profile.

What are some ways the COVID-19 outbreak has affected your organization, and how is it rebounding? 

The COVID-19 outbreak impacted the DQ in many ways. Initially, in early March, we were concerned that we would be ordered by our Governor to close our restaurants. We instructed our management teams to be very conservative on inventory levels as we did not want to risk having inventory and spoilage if the restaurants would be ordered to close. We had a few employees at each of our locations who chose not to come to work out of fear of coming in contact with a customer who may have the virus and may pass it on to their family members. Early on, we noticed a drop in customer counts and in sales as more people were stocking up at grocery stores and were not coming out for non-essential purchases. We consulted with our management teams and made a conscious decision to remove any treat advertising on our reader boards, social media, and exterior advertising and focus on hot food advertising only, as we did not want to entice anyone to come to us for non-essential visits. We wanted to be there to provide a warm meal for a tired nurse, a cold mailman or elderly person who does not cook at home. We provided free breakfast and free lunches — complete with DQ treats — for school-aged children at our five locations for several weeks to help families, regardless of income, make it through the rough time and make the children happy.

Our management teams and all employees adapted quickly to the many changes. I really never heard any complaining. We still complete wellness checks and take body temperatures of our employees daily. Extra cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing became normal. We had “handwashing parties” every half hour, no matter what. We separated tasks of collecting money and passing out food items. We now wear gloves to do jobs that we never wore gloves for before the pandemic. Masks became a normal part of the uniform. We tried to push our mobile ordering, through our DQ mobile app, which is a contactless way to order and pay. 

Our sales rebounded quickly, especially at our locations that have drive-thru service in Cornersburg, Austintown and Columbiana. The sales actually rebounded much quicker than we expected, and we got caught with our pants down. Our suppliers started to run out of products and sometimes imposed limits on how much product we could get. With the weather breaking, we did not have enough inventory or help. It was difficult to interview and train as we were hesitant to have face-to-face interviews and bring others into our “circle” of employees. We were also just simply not getting applicants, as no one wanted to work during the pandemic. We decided to offer a $2/ hour hazard pay across the board for any employee who worked during the pandemic, which certainly did help to retain staff. Purchasing habits of our customers changed. We noticed a big increase in take-home treat sales, such as 6-packs of Dilly Bars, Buster Bars, Quarts and, surprisingly, DQ cakes. It’s just a guess, but I think that there was really nothing to do but eat, so DQ was one of the only “happy” things left. Although customer counts were down, guest check averages were up! Our fans were spending more money. We realized that once they came out, they decided to fill up their freezers with treats for the family. Many of our fans told us that they felt safer coming to our drive-thru than going into a grocery store.

How has the outbreak affected your personal life? 

The outbreak has affected my personal life in many ways. My youngest child was a senior this year, so we missed out on all the fun. No wrestling banquet, no senior prom, no graduation parties. Fundraisers that we as business owners normally attend for charitable organizations have mostly all been cancelled. As a business owner, I have cried many times over the last few months. I have never been more stressed out. I was worried about my staff. I take their safety very seriously, but I was also worried about my family as well. I have worked many long days, long hours combined with sleepless nights. Quarantine was not an option for me. There was no personal life. It was work, eat, sleep, repeat, and it is still that way. 

What steps are you taking to come back strong? 

We will come back stronger. My husband and I have always had this saying about employees that have “been through the trenches with us.” This year, the trench could not have been deeper. We have some really loyal employees who have also worked really hard along with us, or stayed past their shifts or came in early to make sure we had Dilly Bars, Buster Bars and DQ cakes. Our cake sales are up 25 percent, a trend I expect to continue. Our locations are having record sales this year. We have installed hospital-grade air filter systems in our restaurants to help keep the pathogens out of the air. We are continuing to bleach all high-contact touch surfaces in the front and back of the house every hour. We have added signage to our restaurants that have opened for dining, and we have made hand sanitizer available. We have made efforts to create barriers between customers and employees. In our restaurants with dining, some tables have been removed and the rest are spaced a minimum of six feet apart.  

What advice are you sharing with the people you love? 

Although I have not had much of a chance to slow down, relax and reflect, I do think that in an odd way, the pandemic was good for us. It taught us to do things that we should already do anyway — like washing your hands and not just cleaning surfaces, but disinfecting and sanitizing them. It has taught us to stay away from each other, but I also feel that it has brought us closer to each other. I see people helping others more, and especially at the beginning of this, there were many generous people helping others in need. It has taught us all that life is short and that our health is the only thing that really matters. It’s all we have.