Georgetown’s favorite liquor store is coming back, but students may have to wait a while longer before the booze starts flowing.

Refurbishment of Dixie Liquors on M Street, which closed in the winter, will likely set back the store’s reopening until at least early October. Though the establishment’s new owners initially hoped the store would be fully operational by July or August, renovations are only about halfway done and no official date has been set for opening, its owners said.

Interior electrical work must be completed and the store’s facade must be painted before the store opens. The owners must obtain an occupancy permit, tax registration and Basic Business License – all of which are required by D.C. law – before the store’s liquor license is fully approved, Marucci said. Cynthia Simms, community resource officer for the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, said last month that although the partners’ application to obtain the previous owners’ liquor license has been accepted, the transaction has not yet been approved.

“We were hoping to be a little further along,” Jody Kurash, one of the owners, said. She put up the initial version of a new Web site for the store and says she is eager to open.

Dixie closed in January after more than 50 years in operation, and many students and members of the community expressed dismay at the store’s closure. Kurash and the store’s other two owners – Mike Marucci Ron Leone – purchased the store during the spring.

The new owners have promised extensive changes that will revive Dixie’s look. In fact, they said that only the name “Dixie Liquors” may remain the same.

Current plans include applying a fresh coat of paint to the building’s exterior and adding a second register, Marucci said. In addition, he added, the owners are redesigning the interior to relieve a once-cramped sales floor; the checkout counter will be angled to allow customers to pass easily into and out of the store and to allow employees carrying items from the refrigerated rooms to bypass the sales area.

The store will continue to sell kegs, and one of the partners’ goals is to eventually offer a delivery service, arucci said. Details about the service have not yet been decided.

Kurash said last month that the most significant change Georgetown will see with the store’s new ownership is that they are “going to be much better neighbors.”

Jeanne Lord, Georgetown’s associate vice president for student affairs, said her office would be willing to work closely with the partners in efforts to prevent underage drinking and to maintain a safe neighborhood environment. This work includes the owners’ attendance at community group meetings, including those of the university-established Alliance for Local Living. However, the owners and university officials have not yet met to discuss these efforts.

“I appreciate their interest in being good and responsible community members,” Lord said.

Though Kurash had planned to keep her position as an Associated Press photographer, AP recently closed her department and she will instead work full time at Dixie. She will split operational duties with Marucci, who resigned as an AP photographer in July. Leone will play a more hands-off role, handling administrative duties, arucci said.

“I’m pretty psyched for it,” Kurash said.