Anchorage small-business owners on where — and why — to shop local this holiday season

This holiday season, amid ever-growing competition with online retailers, small-business owners in Anchorage are encouraging locals to shop local.

“Don’t shop on Amazon. I’ll give it to you for the same price,” said John Staser, who has owned his family business, fly fishing and clothing outfitter Mountain View Sports in South Anchorage, since 1988.

One of his keys to competing with online retailers has been to offer a price match, he said: “Same product, same color, same size.”

The benefit of shopping local to the Anchorage economy is threefold, said Katie Nave, the program director with BuyAlaska, an initiative under the Alaska Small Business Development Center.

Sixty-three cents of every dollar spent at a local business in the state stays within the local economy, according to a 2021 economic study by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development. That’s compared to 23 cents when buyers purchase from a non-local business in town. When consumers buy from out-of-state vendors online, that number goes to $0.

“It’s just really a big multiplier effect,” Nave said. “Not only does money stay in the state, but it really trickles down to more jobs, higher wages, even support (to) local charities, because we see local businesses supporting at a higher rate than non-local businesses. It trickles down through the whole community.”

Small Business Saturday is on Nov. 30.

Jon Bittner, executive director of the Alaska Small Business Development Center, said Small Business Saturday helps local businesses get noticed when their marketing dollars are more limited than that of national chain stores.

“Not only can we educate and reach more people about the importance of shopping small, but we can also help promote smaller businesses much more broadly than they would be able to do on their own,” Bittner said. “That helps them add new clients, new shoppers, and generate more revenue right before the holiday season.”

Customer service, relationships and locally sourced products

Many Anchorage small businesses agree that it’s become increasingly difficult to compete for consumers’ attention in a digital age of holiday shopping. But not all have needed to.

Some owners at local specialty stores say that the niche nature of their products allows them to remain competitive with online markets.

That includes Blackbull Native Store, which carries mostly homemade Alaska Native goods, or sporting goods shops like Barney’s Sports Chalet and Alaska Mountaineering & Hiking, where owners say consumers benefit from trying on gear and talking with experts. This gives the small businesses a built-in edge against chain or out-of-state competitors, owners say.

Customer service is another factor. Local small-business owners and managers say a customized, lived experience from a salesperson who shares a community — and likely a hobby —with their clients is an experience that larger retailers or online outfits can’t offer.

“There’s always going to be the online thing, but the best way to combat it is customer service,” said Kevin Dana, who has owned Barney’s Sports Chalet since 2015. “Knowledge-based customer service, although kind of a dying breed, that’s what separates us and keeps us going.”

Same goes for HoughtonHill, a boutique jewelry and homeware consignment store in Midtown. Owner Jessica Brunsting said she keeps a list of customers seeking specific items, and calls them when that item comes in.

For Blackbull Native Store, owned by Daphne Nicholai, it’s locally sourced and made products that keep her in business — including knitted socks, fireweed tea, seal furs and “Eskimo ice cream.”

“I try to carry things that (people) can’t find at Fred Meyer or Walmart,” Nicholai said. “Like right now we have some cranberry bourbon vanilla sauce here … made with tundra cranberries. They won’t find that on Amazon.”

Some local businesses are making adjustments this holiday season. The Hoarding Marmot owner Dana Drummond said he’ll be offering more sales on the store’s new items, to remain competitive with the brands they stock.

Other small businesses, like those that lack a brick-and-mortar store, see the shop-local holiday market push as an opportunity to reach their clients.

Virginia Peterson, the founder of a women’s underwear-turned-athleisure company, SWOOP, sells her products online and through regular markets throughout the holiday months. She said in-person markets are a reliable method to set herself apart from other brands by getting to know her clients, and introducing them to the story behind her brand.

“We’re … really trying to create relationships with people, to tell our story, and to make that conversation and connection,” she said. “That’s just something that Amazon can’t do.”

Anchorage events for shopping local

In line with the national events aimed at supporting small businesses, Anchorage’s entrepreneurs will be selling their goods at various markets and storefronts throughout the holiday weekend.

Small Business Saturday

Saturday, in locations throughout downtown Anchorage

The Anchorage Downtown Partnership has put together a map of Small Business Saturday participants offering deals and discounts to shoppers.

Hotel Captain Cook Holiday Bazaar

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Hotel Captain Cook, 939 W. Fifth Ave.

The Hotel Captain Cook will host a holiday bazaar featuring two days of local vendors selling Alaska wares in the hotel’s ballroom.

Alaska Community Land Trust Small Business Saturday Market

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; The Nave, 3502 Spenard Road

The Nave is hosting Alaska Community Land Trust’s Small Business Saturday. Visitors can shop handmade goods, including food carts, jewelry, clothing, clothing and home goods.

Crafted in Alaska

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Anchorage Museum, 625 C St.

The Anchorage Museum will host its own holiday market, Crafted in Alaska, with local vendors.

Weekend Sip + Shop

Noon-5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas; Double Shovel Cider Co., 502 W. 58th Ave.

Visit the Anchorage micro-cidery starting this weekend to check out a variety of local vendors.

[Shipping fees for Alaska-bound products are increasing. A small rise in store prices could add up.]

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