Missouri store clings to ‘Dixie’ name. Sale of Confederate flags is booming, it says
An unparalleled racial reckoning has seen major companies rebranding long-time staples like Uncle Ben’s rice and Aunt Jemima’s syrup.
Statues of Confederate generals and Christopher Columbus have been carted away. And Kansas City has started the process of renaming the J.C. Nichols fountain and parkway.
But as fast as things seem to be changing in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, a Missouri store specializing in Confederate-themed merchandise is clinging to tradition. Now, protesters are targeting Dixie Outfitters, a Branson store whose owners have family ties to the Ku Klux Klan and has faced scrutiny over its merchandise before.
Set on the 76 strip a few doors down from the iconic Dolly Parton’s Stampede, the store sports a General Lee replica car from the Dukes of Hazzard. On its website, Dixie Outfitters promises customers are “sure to find your Southern spirit when you walk inside our store!”
But many view that spirit as offensively out of touch with the state of the world in 2020.
“When you continue to have that merchandise and continue to have Dixie pride blah, blah, blah, you have to realize how that looks,” said Damz Mikhail, one of about 40 peaceful protesters who marched last Sunday from Dixie Outfitters to the Branson Landing. “No matter how innocent people view it as, there is hatefulness there. I think it is a very sad look on our city.”
Dixie Outfitters advertises everything from Trump T-shirts to hunting hats. But its specialty is Confederate flag themed merchandise. The Rebel flag is emblazoned on fleece blankets, belt buckles, pocket knives and even bandanas that can be worn as a face covering during the pandemic.
Another protest, starting again at the Outfitters store, is planned for Sunday. On social media, talk of a separate Confederate march also has spread.
The protesters in Branson say they want to remain peaceful and make sure people hear their message, not question their actions.
“In our area, once you get violent, they stop listening,” said Mitch Young, who helped organize one of the first Black Lives Matter protests in Branson. “And they only see you as violent.”
The Dixie Outfitters location on the strip is owned by Anna and Nathan Robb. Nathan is the son of Thomas Robb, an Arkansas-based pastor who assumed leadership of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s following the departure of David Duke.
In June 2015, Anna Robb told the Springfield News-Leader that she and her husband were estranged from Thomas Robb. She acknowledged attending KKK events in the past, but said she and her husband were not involved in the organization.
The owners did not respond to a request for comment. A store manager contacted this week by The Star said the store was unfazed by the cultural changes occurring.
“We sold probably the most flags we’ve ever sold last Saturday,” said the manager, who only gave the name Alex. “It’s been pretty great.”
Growing up in the Branson area, Young has thought the Confederate flag displayed at the store “seems like a symbol of hate more than it does heritage.”
“As I got older, I realized I could do something about it,” Young said. “I don’t think there’s really any room for racists anymore.”
Former Branson Mayor and current Missouri House candidate Karen Best said most locals avoid the strip, especially during the peak summer season, and probably haven’t given the store much thought.
She said she’d rather see another souvenir shop or store there, but said there’s little the government could do to interfere with a private enterprise.
“I want to make Branson the place that welcomes everyone. And if there’s something that hinders that, I would prefer it not be in existence,” she told The Star. “However, because of the free market, money talks. So my hope is that people would want to spend their money on other things.”
In January 2018, Parton dropped “Dixie” from the name of her popular dinner show in Branson and in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It’s now called, “Dolly Parton’s Stampede.”
Parton said at the time that the move was sparked by a change in attitudes and as the company running the show expands into new markets it will “remove any confusion or concerns about our shows.”
Likewise, the Rebel flag was removed from the inventory of the 250,000 items sold at the downtown Branson’s variety store Dick’s 5&10. Co-owner Steve Hartley said he removed those items several years ago as social norms were changing.
“It’s a part of our history but also a time of our history we’re not always proud of,” he said. “We don’t do anything with it anymore.”
Billy Bob’s Dairy Land, a retro-themed burger stand, is next door to Dixie Outfitters. Jessica Shain, Billy Bob’s manager, said the Outfitters store isn’t that much different from the scores of others that sell T-shirts and souvenirs.
“A lot of people just go in there and find fun little knickknacks,” she said.
Shain acknowledged the Confederate flags in the windows do set the store apart from other shops, but she saw no problem with the icon.
“My family’s half black. I know it was part of the Army back in the day during the war, but I don’t look at it like that,” she said. “Some people consider that flag to be a racist flag. I don’t.”
Mikhail does, and thinks that the only place for the Confederate flag is in a history museum or used to educate. And there’s no room in the town for the word “Dixie” on a business sign.
The “bare minimum” hope, Mikhail said, would be for the Dixie Outfitters to change its name.
“But at the end of the day, I don’t think they will,” Mikhail said. “I think what most people want is for the store to close.”
