W. M. (Benny) Goodman and his wife Dot Goodman founded Dixie Lee Fireworks at its present location in March, 1948. Mr. Goodman had been selling fireworks on Broadway in Knoxville, Tennessee, when he was legislated out of business. Since he could no longer sell legally in Knox County, he began to look for a legal county in which to sell his goods.
He found our present home on Kingston Pike, at the Loudon County line. Since highway 11/70 was a major tourist route, going both south to Florida, and west to Nashville, the Goodman business did very well. Mr. And Mrs. Goodman, sold many items, including garden figurines, bedspreads, and Tennessee souvenirs, as well as fireworks to tourists and locals, alike. Mr. Goodman even tried his hand at wholesaling his fireworks, and that prospered, too. Some of the stores that you see along interstates 40 and 75 today bought their first wholesale orders from Mr. Benny Goodman right here at Dixie Lee Fireworks back in the late 40’s and early 50’s.

Not long into our family history, the interstates did force changes at Dixie Lee Fireworks. What was once the only way to Florida and out West, was replaced with the new, better, faster, exciting new expressway. The Goodman family could no longer depend on the tourist trade. After much soul searching, the Goodman’s decided to drop all product lines except the fireworks. Mr. Goodman had hopes of becoming the "Premier" place for all locals to buy their fireworks. Since locals mainly shoot fireworks 2 to 3 times a year, the decision was made to become a seasonal business.

The decision that Mr. and Mrs. Goodman made was a correct one for their family. Their grandchildren are now actively running the business, and the business continues to grow yearly. Mr. Goodman’s vision of becoming the "Premier" place for the locals came true. Today, 3rd and 4th generations come to purchase the fireworks that they remember their parents and their grandparents buying for them. We are told almost daily by customers, "We wouldn’t even think of going anywhere else for fireworks - this is the ONLY place."

Today, we operate under the same ethics that our founders instilled in us: Give the customer the very best items you can get at the very lowest price that you can sell it for. Treat every customer as if they were family.