The Mitchell Avenue Dairy Queen location is up for sale.

Owner Patricia Ashlock said the Mitchell DQ building and land was put up for sale Tuesday.

“We still have loyal customers but that used to be the top neighborhood for a long time and then what happened was everything went out east,” said Ashlock. “Sometimes neighborhoods are a thing of the past. You don’t want them to be but sometimes that’s just what happens.”

The Mitchell DQ which was first opened in 1949 has shown a decrease in customers in recent times causing Ashlock to start looking for another location to move the store to.

“There’s no businesses over there it went out east, all out to the Belt Highway,” said Ashlock. “They’ve closed a couple of schools they’re going to close more, they’ve abandoned a couple of churches there, if you drive through the neighborhood there’s several empty houses there.”

There are two other DQ locations in St. Joseph. The oldest is the location on St. Joseph Avenue which was started in 1947 by Ashlock’s father. She said they do not plan to move the St. Joseph Avenue location because it still maintains high traffic due to its proximity to businesses and schools. The US Hwy 169 location was relocated several years ago from its original home in the South End.

“We don’t like it anymore than anyone else does,” she said. “My dad started them and he went in as neighborhood shops but those things have changed.”

Ashlock said she expect customers to be upset with their decision to relocate the Mitchell store but said due to financial reasons they have no choice.

“It’s a family business and always has been and hopefully always will be,” said Ashlock. “When you look at the numbers you know you got to do something.”

The building and land on Mitchell Ave. are up for sale. Anyone interested in purchasing the lot is asked to call (816)-232-9911.