Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – After nearly 32 years, the Lee and Ellen Kensinger have sold the beloved Detroit Lakes Dairy Queen Grill and Chill in McKinley Plaza in Detroit Lakes.
The Kensingers said the new owners, Michael and Abigale Griffin, were friends with their son and, after seeing how passionate they were about running the business, Lee said 66 was close enough to retirement age to begin his next chapter.
“My son called me two years ago and said, ‘you know, Michael (Griffin) would really like to buy the Dairy Queen,” said Lee Kensinger. “And I said, we’d think about it. And as time progressed, I planned to retire at 67 and I’m only 66, but Michael was pushing because he really wants it … so it just seemed to be time. And I think it’s great that we can turn it over to someone who’s going to treat it the way that we did and be a member of the community. And Michael is going to do a great job.”
Ellen Kensinger said the couple didn’t realize how much of an impact they had on Detroit Lakes and the community because it’s difficult to see when you just go to work every day.
“It’s hard to put into words, really, because you don’t realize how much of an impact you are making on a community when you are just going to work every day,” said Ellen Kensinger. “But over the years we’ve met so many people and been involved in so many community activities … I’m always amazed at how many people we know through the business because we’ve been going to work every day and doing our job. “
Lee said he and Ellen met when he was the general manager at the Dairy Queen located at the Minnesota Zoo.
Over the years, the couple began to notice some of the kids of their former employees showing up to apply for their first jobs
“I was telling our children that we need to quit now because we hired somebody that was one of their classmate’s kids,” said Ellen Kensinger. “And I said, well, we’ve come full circle and it’s time for us to get out and let someone younger do it. But that has also been a privilege to be able to hire so many people … and they have enjoyed it enough that they are going to have their kids work for us. So that means a lot to us.”
Lee said one thing he’ll always remember is giving away free blizzards to snow removal workers during a snowstorm in 2019.
“Four years ago, we had a really big blizzard and it was January 2019,” said Lee Kensinger. “And I left my house and I knew the roads were really bad, but my road was cleared and then the next road I was on was cleared and the guys were clearing the lot at the Dairy Queen, so I didn’t have any problem getting to work. So I put a post on Facebook that if you cleared snow for the county, state, for the city, if you shoveled your neighbor’s driveway … come on in, I’ve got a blizzard for you. We had 100,000 hits from that on social media … and that was a really cool thing. It wasn’t that big of deal for us, but it sure made an impact around.”
The Kensingers said they plan to travel a little bit with some of their new found free time, but, once they get back, they plan on relaxing a little bit.
“Other than that, relaxing,” said Lee Kensinger. “Instead of doing what we have to do, do what we want to do.”
Both Lee and Ellen Kensinger said their business and all businesses depend on good managers and they had some of the best.
“A couple managers have been with me a long time,” he said. “Kim Christenson has been with me 26 years. Matt … 11 years. It’s really great to have those loyal people.”
The Kensingers also said they hope the community shows Michael and Abigale Griffin the same love and support they received as they take over operations of the restaurant.
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