Making a drink at Mad Roosters

You walk into Mad Rooster’s liquor store off the square in Wimberley and a life-size mannequin of Willie Nelson — complete with guitar — is holding the door open for you.

Once inside, there’s a smiling “Brothel Girl” swinging from the ceiling.

Throw in some “inappropriate” greeting cards and lots of booze, and, well, you get the idea. The atmosphere Victoria Cox has created at the Mad Rooster’s store in the Lumberyard Retail Center at 111 Old Kyle Road is sassy and fun. “We want customers to be happy when they come in this store and happy when they leave,” says Victoria, who owns the store along with her husband Travis Cox.

The store, which is tucked behind the new KWVH 94.1 studio, opened in August of 2018. There were some hiccups along the way. The approval process from the city of Wimberley was laborious. That stretch of Old Kyle Road was closed for a while for sewer construction and there were septic issues. But all is up and running now and the 1,100-square-foot store is getting its footing — among visitors on the weekends and locals during the week.

The couple also own the original Mad Rooster’s Liquor Store at 8600 FM 150 in Kyle across the road from Hays City Store.

The two stores have a different vibe.

The larger Kyle location is where a worker stops by after a hard day and picks up a 12-pack of Bud Light. The downtown Wimberley store features craft beers, small-batch whiskey and highly rated wines. “We’re still trying to figure out the market,” says Victoria. “That store (Kyle) is more of a working class store. This store (Wimberley) is more for retirees and visitors. This location is fun because many of our customers have travelled around the world and have sophisticated palates. They make some good suggestions on products we should carry.”

Cox welcomes requests and her store is packed with local brands — Dripping Springs Vodka, Cypress Creek Rum, Middleton beers and Garrison Brothers Whiskey. The top seller at both stores? Austin-made Tito’s vodka.

Roadblocks along the way

Victoria and Travis Cox live near the Kyle location with their three daughters and are relative newcomers to the liquor business. They started a plumbing business when they were first married. Victoria took care of the books and the bids while Travis fitted the pipes.

When the previous owner of the original liquor store came to the couple after choosing to chuck the rat race and open a bed and breakfast in Costa Rica, Travis and Victoria decided to take over the store. That’s where the name Mad Rooster’s came from: They considered themselves crazy to get into the retail liquor business.

“We have always been contractors,” says Victoria. “I had only been in four liquor stores in my life.

The Kyle store had been there a while and had an established clientele. They started the Wimberley store from scratch and wanted a slightly different feel. “We try to carry local. We try to support Texas first,” says Victoria.

The first place they met resistance was the city approval process. Some city officials didn’t drink alcohol and didn’t think others should. Some retailers were worried about competition. They submitted their application July 2017. It was approved May 2018. A few months later the store opened.

Then, Old Kyle Road in front of the new store closed for six weeks for sewer construction. Mad Rooster’s was forced to close some days during the week because customers had a hard time getting there.

Then there was a septic disaster.

Despite the setbacks, the store has been building its customer base steadily. “Slowly, but surely we are getting to where we want to be,” says Victoria.

The bar was too big

The centerpiece of the Wimberley store is the 15-foot tiger oak bar. Built in the 1880s, it was originally used in a Houston hotel. Over the years it has only had three owners. The mirrored wall unit broke down into nine pieces so it was relatively easy to move. The bar itself was another matter. It’s one piece — and it’s heavy. There was no way the bar was going in the front door so they had to break out a window to get it in.

Almost every weekend the old bar plays host to liquor tastings. There are cocktails from Dallas, bourbon and rye from Lewisville and little-known sotol from Driftwood.

Mad Rooster’s tries to keep prices competitive but that can be hard because bigger retailers can buy in bulk and get the best prices. A smaller player such as Mad Rooster’s might only buy a handful of bottles at a time. Victoria tries to stock products not available at nearby stores. “We handpick every wine in our store,” she says. “If we find a wine that’s phenomenal we can get it.

“We’re always open to new products,” says Victoria. “We love it when customers make suggestions. More and more people keep coming back. We are getting to know some of the faces now. We really just want to be a community liquor store.”