For years, the Dairy Queen franchise on Ford Parkway in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood has been the butt of social media jokes and a frequent source of quiet ribbing, even among business advocates.

On the neighborhood Facebook page, “DQ has been a punchline. It was rough service, kind of inconsistent service,” said James Farnsworth, executive director of the Highland Business Association, with a chuckle. “‘They’re out of ice cream.’ That kind of thing.”

The location at 1959 Ford Parkway is getting a new lease, quite literally, with a boost from a former Kardashian. The Humphries family — including William Humphries, his son and former National Basketball Association stand-out player Kris Humphries and Kris’ brother Alex — are opening a Dave’s Hot Chicken franchise in its place. Yes, it’s the same Kris Humphries who was once married to reality star Kim Kardashian for 72 days.

William Humphries attended a meeting of the Highland District Council’s community development committee on Aug. 15 to present plans for a complete interior renovation of the leased space with his contractor, Strack Construction. Within the past couple weeks, the Dairy Queen signs came down, making it the latest in a string of Twin Cities Dairy Queens to call it quits. The “coming soon” signs went up, and the neighborhood’s social media channels have been abuzz ever since.

“It was almost an overnight thing,” Farnsworth said. “I think they’ll be in by February or March of next year.”

The existing drive-through will be re-utilized as-is, according to Strack Construction project manager Erik Koenig’s Aug. 15 presentation to the committee. The building owner will remain Proud Shoe.

Metro-wide expansion?

Highland Park isn’t the only Minnesota location to soon be graced by the Los Angeles food chain’s spicy oversized fried chicken sandwiches, whose franchises have received a boost from celebrity investors like the rapper Drake and actor Samuel L. Jackson, as well as former First Lady of California Maria Shriver, athlete and TV personality Michael Strahan and Boston Red Sox owner Tom Werner.

The Dave’s Hot Chicken chain, as company lore has it, was started by four friends as a pop-up shop in an East Hollywood parking lot in 2017 and quickly spread throughout Los Angeles, and then nationally.

In May 2022, franchisee Michael McGuire — a veteran of Domino’s, Jersey Mikes, Krispy Kreme and Little Caesars — announced plans to open six locations around the Twin Cities, including in Apple Valley, Rosemount, Edina, Bloomington and Lakeville. Since then, the Humphries have said they plan to expand that reach to St. Paul and elsewhere. So far, only one Dave’s Hot Chicken has opened this summer at the Ridgedale Corner Shoppes in Minnetonka, according to a manager there last week.

“This would be store No. 2 for us,” said William Humphries, addressing the Highland committee in August.

The Humphries family previously owned the Crisp and Green franchise location on Ford Parkway, but sold it, Farnsworth said. As of 2021, they owned 10 Five Guys burger franchises in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Kris Humphries’ last season in the NBA was in 2017 with the Atlanta Hawks. A graduate of Hopkins High School and former University of Minnesota Gopher, his 16 professional seasons spanned the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns, during which time he earned a reported $62 million.

“Super excited to bring @daveshotchicken to Minnesota with my family,” wrote Kris Humphries on the social media channel Instagram in April 2022. “This is the best chicken ever! Get ready Minnesota.”

Dairy Queen retrenches

In with the hot chicken, out with the ice cream? Bloomington-based Dairy Queen has seen a series of its Twin Cities franchise locations shuttered, several of them just this year. They include Ford Parkway, West Seventh Street, Lexington Parkway and Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, as well as the U.S. Bancorp Center in downtown Minneapolis and locations in Apple Valley, Eagan, Owatonna and the Mall of America, according to ice cream fans and published reports.

The Highland Dairy Queen had been owned by the Frauenshuh Hospitality Group of Minnesota, an Eden Prairie real estate company that has operated Dairy Queens since 2002 under the name Fourteen Foods. Through recession-era acquisitions, the company by early 2011 had grown its Dairy Queen network to 119 locations throughout the Midwest, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Its “DQ Grill & Chill” network has since grown to 240 locations, according to a recent blog run by chief executive officer Matt Frauenshuh.

A call to the company on Tuesday was not immediately returned.

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