Residents of Indian Head and neighboring communities will have a shorter distance to travel when they want an ice cream cake for their children’s birthday party. The Dairy Queen at 500 South Railway Avenue is now open for business.
Nits Ghai and his wife Sanchi Chadha have operated the Esso on the corner of Highway 56 and South Railway Avenue since 2018, and were instrumental in adding a Subway restaurant to the service station. They recognized that the location was easily accessible from the TransCanada Highway and felt that a Dairy Queen would be an asset to the high traffic area. With this in mind, they agreed to partner with Harmon Saini and his wife Simi Kler, who have operated a Dairy Queen in Regina since 2017.
“The journey to opening a Dairy Queen in Indian Head was not easy,” Harmon acknowledged.
The two couples signed a contract in November 2020 and construction began on the lot east of the Esso station in December. Like many other people at the time, they soon discovered that the coronavirus pandemic was negatively impacting supply chains. In addition, they encountered problems with the initial contractor who was hired for the project. Difficulties with tradespeople caused further delays. Finally, the construction problems were sorted out and the restaurant prepared to open.
Unfortunately, the owners encountered another challenge when they sought employees. They felt the labor crisis was to blame but eventually they were able to hire thirty-two full-time and part-time staff. They expressed appreciation for students who will be working after school at the restaurant, and for parents who allowed their youth to enter the workforce. Several of the current employees commute from Regina so the restaurant is seeking more local staff, particularly for morning shifts. Training is provided, along with a competitive wage.
A few things still need to be completed at the site when the weather gets warmer, such as improvements in the parking lot and installing additional signage. However, the Dairy Queen restaurant opened to customers on March 31. The establishment offers the full DQ Chill & Grill menu familiar at other locations, including personalized ice cream cakes. The restaurant is open Monday to Friday, 10am-10pm, and 11am-10pm on weekends.
Nits and his fellow owners are thankful for community support. He said that other people in the local food industry “joined hands” to help them and customer response since last week has been very positive. They are optimistic about the future as Covid restrictions have lifted and people are beginning to travel again.
“We are looking forward to summer 2022,” Nits said. “This intersection was deprived of people the past two years, we hope it will be like it was before.”
