Ring in the season with Dixie Lee

Wendy SmithFarragut, The Farragut Insider

Ask anyone what was hardest about 2020 and they will likely say they missed gathering with family and friends. It was the Great Lesson of the early days of Covid – we need to be with people. This year, Covid is still on our minds, but most of us are opting to gather for the holidays in 2021.

These parties are bound to be festive. (If you make it to the end of this column, you’ll be rewarded with a special cocktail recipe.)

Ellen Taylor Jones operates Dixie Lee Wines and Liquors with her brother, Andy Taylor. The Farragut area was quite different when the family-run store opened 30 years ago, she says.

“It’s almost overwhelming to us how much this area has grown.”

Now is the time when most customers are stocking up for Christmas and New Year’s parties, and it looks different from last year. It’s not that we weren’t drinking last year; we were. Since people weren’t socializing, they bought in smaller batches – but more often, she says.

While there was never a loss of demand for alcohol, the store has faced numerous challenges over the past 20 months. At the beginning of the pandemic, customers were panic buying, just as they were with toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Later, some customers pushed back on the store’s mask mandate.

“We’re a very small business, and we wanted to keep the staff safe.” Ellen says. “If you lose even one when you have a small staff like we do, it has a big impact.”

Safety protocols led to the store offering mobile delivery and curbside options, which are still available. Providing these services has been good for business.

“When you operate a small business, you figure out ways to adapt to make business better. That’s always our goal.”

At Thanksgiving, customers talked about looking forward to gathering with family for the first time since the pandemic started, so Ellen anticipates stocking more Christmas parties this year. But the store is still feeling the effects of Covid in the form of shortages. Not the product itself, she says, but how it’s shipped and how it’s contained. That means customers may not always find what they want when they want it.

Ellen offers a time-saving tip: If something is out of stock at Dixie Lee Wines and Liquors, it’s out of stock everywhere. It’s a tiered industry, and everyone buys from the same distributors, whether they’re a mom-and-pop shop or a big box retailer.

The good news is that there’s still plenty of holiday cheer to go around. Ellen suggests this jolly concoction for holiday entertaining. (She admits that this recipe is not for the calorie-conscious!)

Peppermint White Russian

  • 4 ounces full-fat coconut milk
  • 1 oz Smirnoff peppermint vodka
  • 1/2 ounce of Kahlua
  • Simple syrup
  • Crushed candy canes

Rim a glass with simple syrup and dip into the crushed candy canes. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice and remaining ingredients. Shake well and pour into your chilled rimmed glass. Garnish with a candy cane.

Town of Farragut marketing and public relations coordinator Wendy Smith is your reliable Farragut insider.

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