Buffett's ice cream chain opens largest store in S Arabia

Dairy Queen, US ice cream chain owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has opened its largest store in the world in Saudi Arabia.

The company has unveiled a two-storey, 7,500 square foot restaurant in Riyadh, one of three locations that opened in the city this month to mark the start of aggressive expansion plans.

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The fast-food retailer plans to build five more locations by the end of the year and to have 32 locations across Saudi Arabia by 2015 under a franchise deal with retailer Al Safwa Food Group.

The Al Safwa website, however, just confirmed it is the master franchise for Dairy Queen restaurant chains in Saudi Arabia, without giving further details.

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The store, which can seat 240, will serve the chain's signature Blizzards, sundaes and burgers, the company said.
Dairy Queen already has stores in Bahrain, Qatar and Oman as part of an 841-store chain outside the company's home market of the US.

"For more than 50 years, we have been expanding the Dairy Queen brand into the international marketplace where there continues to be significant opportunities for us," Brad Houser, executive vice president of International Dairy Queen, said.