Why Did Orange Julius Disappear from Illinois or Did It?

I vividly remember making the Orange Julius in the Quincy Mall a regular part of my routine. For the life of me, I can't remember when it closed, but it made me wonder out loud why Orange Julius seems to have disappeared from Illinois entirely or did it really?

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Before it became the Quincy Town Center, what was then the Quincy Mall had an Orange Julius in its west end between Bergner's and Penney's. I can't remember what store was next to it, but I thought it might have been a shoe store. I could be wrong.

What I'm not wrong about is Orange Julius as a standalone entity is no longer in Illinois at all. Well, there's an asterisk with that remark. Orange Julius as a presence is sort of still in Illinois. I'll explain.

What happened to Orange Julius?

The official Orange Julius website says that Dairy Queen purchased the franchise in its entirety in 1987. That began the slow process where standalone Orange Julius stores started to be assimilated into Dairy Queen location.

The data site Smartscrapers seems to infer that there are still Orange Julius locations, but they're almost exclusively on the west coast.

Curiously, the official Orange Julius website still lists Creve Coeur, Bartonville and Chillicothe, Illinois locations, but darned if I can find them. The Google Street View shows a Dairy Queen, so guessing that's what each of these Illinois cities have.

There's a pretty wild conversation on the Dairy Queen sub-Reddit claiming that some Dairy Queens are now phasing out Orange Julius drinks from their menu and possibly changing to artificial ingredients instead of the original fresh oranges.

I am a Dairy Queen fan and understand that business is business, but I definitely miss the days when Orange Julius was its own brand.