The Alabaster Dairy Queen has come a long way from its beginnings in 1960, when a quarter could buy a footlong chili dog and a barbecue plate cost 50 cents.
It has grown from one of a few businesses then on U.S. 31 to one of a string of eateries in the Colonial Promenade shopping center.
Nearly a half-century ago, Thomas Cairns took over the franchise from longtime friend Roscoe Davis. Cairns' four sons -- Nick, Tad, Chris and Brian -- helped run the store. Tad Cairns has been in charge of it since 1974.
"Every free moment we had, we knew where we'd be," Tad Cairns said of working during his teenage years. "From management to mopping floors, anything that has to do with a family operated business, I did it."
The store lays claim to being the longest continually operated Dairy Queen in the nation.
Dairy Queen headquarters, based in Minneapolis, did not begin record keeping until 1962, and the company has no way to confirm Cairns' claim, said Dean Peters, International Dairy Queen's director of communications.
Many franchises claim to be the oldest or longest-running and the company recognizes those that have been in operation as far back as 1940, he said.
The Cairns' Dairy Queen is one of a few businesses in Alabaster that are nearly as old as the city itself. Alabaster incorporated in 1953.
That the business has survived so long is a rarity, said Mickey Gee, a marketing professor at UAB's School of Business. "The chance of a business surviving at all is about 50 percent," he said. The chances of a business surviving through the third generation is 2.7 percent. There is just a tremendous fall-off."
'Chicken from scratch'
The Alabaster Dairy Queen has benefited from fortuitous circumstances -- Alabaster's population and consumer habits during the current economic recession. Though the restaurant industry is among the hardest hit, fast-food establishments have actually fared well, Gee said.
"People have downgraded from white tablecloth restaurants to fast food because of the value they've been able to offer that's less expensive," he said.
Cairns has seen much change, from the introduction of the Blizzard treat 25 years ago, to the streamlining of the Dairy Queen image.
It's challenging to maintain local identity while adhering to corporate ways, Cairns said, but there are some parts of the Alabaster Dairy Queen's identity that are timeless.
"We do our own chicken from scratch," he said. "It's not factory food. It's strictly homemade."
Fifty years have yielded memories for Cairns and also Alabaster residents. It's not uncommon for customers to come in and tell of their parents and grandparents working at the eatery. Those are memories that underscore the historical significance of the restaurant, he said.
"From the outside looking in, people see the hustle and bustle, and they enjoy the ice cream and the chicken, but they don't realize what responsiblity is required in the background to keep it running smoothly," Cairns said.
Gee said the longevity of a family business depends on the willingness of family members to maintain it. Gee is a second-generation owner of The Pants Store.
"If I didn't have two sons, I would have just sold it," Gee said. "It's a matter of the third generation being there."
Cairns said he always envisioned himself at the helm of the store. His daughters, Jennifer and Marian, have dabbled in the business, standing on milk crates and operating cash registers as children. His wife, Glenda, often provides marketing suggestions, he said.
"As long as we can continue to maintain the local tradition that we've built our foundation on, I'd say (we'll be around) another 50 years," Cairns said.