Going their own way in style

After 17 years of building sandwiches, Dickinson business owners Dave and Laurie Ott are ready to build something of their own.

"We had owned Subway for 17 years so it was time for a change," Laurie said. "This opportunity came along and we thought the timing was right so we sold that and bought this.

The couple purchased what was formerly T-Rex Liquors at the beginning of September.

"The outside won't change much," Laurie said. "But the inside will look completely different."

The plan is to continue the business as a liquor store, but with a twist.

"We plan to make it more of a themed place, not just a liquor store," Laurie said. "It's going to be called the House of Booze. It's going to have a blues theme with guitar memorabilia. We'll have two TVs going with blues DVDs. When the customers come in, it will be more than just buying your liquor. They can look at the stuff and enjoy the atmosphere.

"With Subway, we had to do it their way all those years. With this business, we can do it our way."

Going their own way has sparked a lot of creativity from naming the place to determining its design.

"We both love blues music," Laurie said. "My husband loves guitars so we wanted to mix those two together rather than have the same old warehouse look, not the same old shelves and bright lights. We figured if we we're going to be here everyday, we want to enjoy it.

During the first weeks of ownership, the family has spent cleaning out the old to make room for the new.

"My son, Tyrell, daughter Kelly and Dave and I, we've been cleaning for two weeks," Laurie said. "This place has been here about 40 years, since the 1970s. I think there have been three or four different owners and there is no memory of it ever been remodeled. I think it's due.

"Everything will be new. It will have all-new wallpaper. We're going to rip out the ceiling and leave it open and paint it all black. We'll have to get our lighting drops in so that we can put in track lighting. The carpeting will have to come out this week. We're having a gentleman from Fargo who does painting on cement come and take a look at the floor. We also ordered built-in, bookcase-style shelves. Those have to be built and that takes about five weeks."

The Otts will not be continuing the on-sale operation, but old bar will find new use as the customer service counter.

The former bar area is to be used as storage.

"With the extra storage, we can keep our prices down by purchasing larger quantities," Laurie said. "It's going to be a learning experience because we don't know how to buy liquor for sale. We hope people will let us know what they can't get here in Dickinson so we can try to carry those things. We need people to tell us what is needed here."

A grand opening is slated for the third or fourth week of October, Laurie said.

"Because we're just doing it as a family thing, it's going to take longer," she added. "Some places could just get a construction crew and get it done quick, but we really wanted to do it as a family. We want to run it as a family. We'll probably only have a couple of employees."

With all of the years spent with Subway, there's not much for the Otts to miss that they can't have at The House of Booze.

"We enjoy working with the public and we know everybody in town already," Laurie said. "We're local. We like to do business locally. It will be the same thing we were doing before, which is customer service, but only on a smaller scale."