Though you wouldn’t know it by peering into the dust-covered windows of 3429 M Street, Dixie Liquors plans to reopen this fall under new management after an abrupt closing at the beginning of the year.
The property will continue to be owned by Ronald Miller, whose family previously managed the store, but Mike Marucci, Jody Kurash, and Ron Leone purchased the business in bankruptcy court in June and began remodeling shortly thereafter.
Though no opening date has been set, the team hopes to be ready by mid to late September, citing the interior remodeling as the reason for the hold up.
“It’s taking a little longer than we expected,” Kurash said, “but we want to do it right. We plan to be here for a while.”
Kurash and her partners are hopeful that Dixie’s brief hiatus will not deter customers from soon returning.
“We plan to be friendly, good neighbors to everybody. We hope people want to come back,” she said. The team has formed plans to regain its old customers, many of them Georgetown students, but also hopes to lure new customers with wine tastings on a new second-floor patio. If these are successful, they plan to expand their wine selection.
Both Marucci and Kurash have worked for the Associated Press as photojournalists, and Leone is a business entrepreneur. None of them have experience in the liquor store business, though Kurash bartended throughout college. She and Marucci have also taken a “Tips Class” as part of the requirement for their liquor license, which gave them advice on avoiding selling to minors and how to spot fake IDs.
Dixie’s visibility and proximity to campus give it an advantage over other liquor stores in the area. When the store closed earlier this year, Towne Wine and Liquors located on Wisconsin Avenue experienced an increase in business. Young Park of Towne Liquor said that he had noticed a slight increase in sales, though he guessed that Wagner’s Liquor Shop probably reaped more of the benefits because they sell kegs whereas Towne does not.
“If I sold keg beer, I’d have a lot of business,” said Park.
Associates at Wagner’s declined to comment on how Dixie’s closing effected their sales.
