LUMBERTON — A new Dairy Queen opened in December, perhaps not the ideal time to open an ice cream store — when shoppers have cold weather on their mind. But it’s not been the weather that’s been the biggest challenge — it’s construction and a combination of local economic factors that has Owner Nisit “Nick” Shah concerned about his business that sits just off the Exit 17 interchange with Interstate 95 in southwest Lumberton.

For certain, an interstate remodeling project expected not to be complete until late 2027 has been bad for business, but it’s the business vacuum around the interchange that he said presents a challenge for Shah’s Dairy Queen.

Even with the highway in shambles, traffic continues to use Interchange 17, the first real northbound access point to southwest Lumberton, the Lumberton Regional Airport and Lumberton business along West Fifth Street/Highway 72.

Shah’s Dairy Queen, which is a part of the Atkinson’s group of business in the region — IGA grocery stores, gas stations hotels and a handful other convenience brands — hopes to endure the upheaval through a strategy of diversity. While the ice cream store hasn’t realized the customers it had originally hoped for, Shah said the family’s other business interests in the area are expected to shore up the lower performing shops.

“We’re here for the long term,” Shah said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Still a little later in the interview with the Robesonian, Shah said the “business has to be fruitful.”

To see that happen, he said he’d like to see more development in southwest Lumberton. Defining that thought, Shah said there is room for more “retail and residential development.” Although he admitted that drawing attention to the possibilities of growth in that area is challenging, especially when most of the I-95 corridor development has taken place on the city’s north side.

A part of Shah’s commitment to the area, the new Dairy Queen/BP Gas station provides jobs in an otherwise depressed area of the city. But he’s finding what other retail businesses are experiencing: finding good employees that stick around.

“We had seven interviews lined up last week; two showed up,” Shah said. It doesn’t appear to be the pay that’s scaring people away — he starts his people at $2 above minimum wage. He pointed to “a general work ethic. There’s a sense of entitlement.”

Shah said despite the challenges of a new business in a new area, he’s committed to be part of the success story in the area by finding ways to serve the community through outreach to schools in the neighborhoods and building connections with other businesses.