Meet December Herrera: The queen behind Dairy Queen Hesperia

At 15 years old, December Herrera vowed to own a Dairy Queen restaurant. Over the last few years, she’s been living out her dream by opening stores in San Bernardino and most recently in the High Desert.

The Dairy Queen franchisee opened her third Dairy Queen Grill & Chill store on Friday, on the corner of Bear Valley Road and Cypress Avenue in Hesperia.

“This is a big deal for me because the new store is located in the same city where I live with my husband and kids,” Herrera, 40, said. “The support from the community has also been fantastic.

Herrera added that she has never opened a store that achieved the volume that the Hesperia store did in one day.

The Dairy Queen dream

Herrera was 15 years old when she got her first job at Dairy Queen. It was this experienced that forged her goal of owning a store.

Herrera opened her first store in her hometown of San Bernardino in 2018. Her second store would open two years later in the same town, she said.

“It was an incredible feeling to be serving Dairy Queen customers out of my hometown nearly 25 years ago,” she said. “I have the same feeling here in Hesperia, which is now my home.”

A heart for Dairy Queen

Loving the Dairy Queen brands, the family camaraderie and serving customers, a 15-year-old Herrera committed to one day owning a store.

“As a teen, I worked my way through the management system,” Herrera said. “When the Dairy Queen was sold, I worked for other restaurant brands and even got a realtor's license, but that wasn’t for me. My heart was always with Dairy Queen.”

Nearly 17 years after first working for Dairy Queen, Herrera came back and started the process to become a franchisee, which included training in Virginia and New York and signing papers in Minnesota.

Dairy Queen opens

Over the weekend, the scene at Dairy Queen included over 50 cans in the drive-thru line at any given time, a packed dining room and foodies making the pilgrimage from Big Bear, Phelan, Lucerne Valley and across the Victor Valley.

Joshua Vaughn, of Adelanto, and Sarah Prickett, of Apple Valley, said they’ve been waiting a long time for the opening of Dairy Queen Hesperia.

“We love Dairy Queen, but the closest ones are in San Bernardino,” Vaughn said. “Sarah grew up with it, it’s familiar, we love the food and I love the Blizzards.”

Of the dozens of people who made it through a drive-thru or indoor line, nobody complained about the food or the wait time.

“When the food and desserts are this good, ain’t no reason to complain, you know?” said Shanice Jackson, of Victorville. “We only waited 20 minutes and it was well worth it. We ordered burgers, chicken, fries and lots of Blizzards."

Grill & Chill

Herrera and her team hired and trained 55 employees for the Hesperia location, the first “Grill and Chill Dairy Queen” in the High Desert, she said.

“This store has a full food and ice cream menu unlike the other High Desert stores before us, which were only treat stores,” Herrera said. “They had dessert treats and hot dogs, but we serve things like burgers, fries, chicken strips, salads, and a variety of snack foods.”

Herrera shared that one of the most popular menu items is the Blizzard, “which made Dairy Queen famous.”

She explained that after a Blizzard is prepared, employees will show customers how thick the ice cream is by quickly flipping the cup upside down.

Herrera said other popular menu items are the “phenomenal chicken strips,” banana splits and the Peanut Buster Parfaits Royal Treats.

Dairy Queen describes the parfait as a treat with loads of peanuts, mounds of soft serve and tons of hot fudge layered high.

Opportunities for teens

“My first store was a new building, which I saw break ground,” Herrera said. “We started with permitting, designing, planning and then opening in 2018.”

Understanding her Dairy Queen roots as a teen, Herrera’s first store included 70 employees, 45 of whom were high school students.

“When I see these kids, I see me back when I was 15,” Herrera said. “Giving them the same opportunity that I had when I first started is important to me.”

Because the new San Bernardino Dairy Queen is a larger, stand-alone building and model, the company chose it as a flagship store, she said.

“On Feb. 1, I’ll have management from 13 Dairy Queens at our San Bernardino store to learn about new items coming to the menu,” Herrera said. “We’ll train them, and they’ll practice there before going back to their own stores.”

Dairy Queen, like family

Herrera said for over two decades, from employee to franchisee, Dairy Queen executives have supported her goals.

“Dairy Queen is very personal to me,” Herrera said. “They’re like family — I call, they pick up the phone and they’re there for me.”

Herrera said she also thanked God for giving her the strength to overcome all the obstacles to get to where she is today.

“I also thank my husband for supporting me in the decision that I made to become a franchisee,” said. “I also thank those who helped me and my family along the way.”

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Meet December Herrera: The queen behind Dairy Queen Hesperia