Talia Dixie Hauser’s shop Dixie Queen is open again this summer. The 14-year-old is selling soft serve ice cream and slushies out of the Main Street location she shares with her mother Tammy Hauser.
This is the second year the 14-year-old has operated the business and the menu has expanded. Last year she offered slushies. This year she’s offering vanilla ice cream – she said she’s working on getting chocolate – and two flavors of slushies, cherry and blue raspberries.
For the bold, an option to combine the two into a concoction called The Royal Slushie is available. Toppings are also available: Oreos, M&Ms, sprinkles, and Reese’s pieces.
Hauser is also considering adding root beer floats and parfaits to the menu.
She said she opened the shop because she has a lot of nostalgia for another shop in town called Sarah J’s that she remembers serving coffee and soft serve ice cream.
“Everybody loved it there. There was tons of ice cream and all the kids would go there and my dad would get me ice cream,” she said. “Now there’s like, no places. So I thought I should do it for the kids.”
In addition to learning the mechanics of operating an ice cream shop – like not overfilling cups, fitting lids properly – she said she’s also learning how to be more open with people.
“Usually when I’m around people I don’t like to talk much,” she said.
She said she is using the money, at least in part, to fuel an anime habit that includes posters, books, movies, action figures, and plushies.
Her father, Dan Hauser, is helping with ordering supplies, and mother Tammy is helping with the sales tax forms.
“We do help her there, but she pretty much runs it, it’s her place,” Tammy Hauser said.
Dixie Queen is open from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday throughout the summer.