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Best Places to Shop in Anchorage

In his speech to persuade Congress to purchase Alaska in 1860, William Henry Seward spoke of its riches: gold, timber, jade, furs, fish. Many of today's most popular art objects and souvenirs are made of the very materials Seward talked about nearly 150 years ago. The unique crafts produced in Alaska come from the earth and capture the spirit of this wild, untamed country. Here are the places to find what you'll want to bring home:

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Shopping

Anchorage Shopping

This down­town shop does­n’t just offer ready-made gifts and sou­venirs — though it does have plen­ty of those, includ­ing jew­el­ry, medal­lions and watch­es embla­zoned with Alaskan images such as bears, wolves and even Idi­tar­od cham­pi­ons. One of the most pop­u­lar items here are gold-nugget neck­laces, ren­dered from piece of gold brought in by mod­ern-day prospec­tors. The store’s oth­er claim to fame is being the start­ing point for the Idi­tar­od and Fur…  ...more

The Ulu Fac­to­ry makes high-qual­i­ty ulus that are prac­ti­cal in the kitchen, as well as cus­tom-made birch wood sal­ad grab­bers. Watch skilled crafts­men car­ry on this tra­di­tion at the Fac­to­ry near Ship Creek.

The only spe­cial­ty cheese shop in Anchor­age is also a can’t‑miss café. It’s the only place in Anchor­age to pur­chase spe­cial­ty cheeses sourced from across Europe and the U.S. But it’s also a hip, casu­al spot with a great lunch menu that mix­es arti­san cheeses with high-qual­i­ty fast food. Some peo­ple come just for the cookies!

This down­town shop and café is a lit­tle glimpse into old Anchor­age — a city that was­n’t com­plete­ly about log­ging, fish­ing and tough guys. Built in 1915, the Kim­ball build­ing, on Town Square Park at the cor­ner of 5th and E, is a stop on the his­toric walk­ing tour and still has antique fix­tures and floor­ing. It’s eclec­tic, quaint-meets-cool” gift and tea shop is an exten­sion of a famed dry goods and sewing notions store that has been in business…  ...more

Long­time Alaskan Heather Robuck makes mod­ern gold prospect­ing easy: Their col­lec­tions of hand­made gold-in-quartz jew­el­ry — a rare com­bi­na­tion — are craft­ed into rings, neck­laces, and bracelets. Also, check out their exten­sive col­lec­tion of nat­ur­al, unal­tered gold nuggets.

Whether it’s shirts, paja­mas, slip­pers or stuffed ani­mals (bear fans, mean­while, while find a few PJs and trin­kets as well). You can also choose among gifts such as quirky mag­nets, notepads and water bot­tles that make great portable gifts.

Set in down­town Anchor­age, Wild Starr is not only a place to dis­cov­er gor­geous cre­ations from Alaskan artists — it’s also a com­mu­ni­ty gath­er­ing space that hosts fun events focused on cre­at­ing your own works of art.

Vari­ety of din­ing choic­es, movie the­aters with reclin­ers, a bowl­ing alley, and an ice rink, it pro­vides enjoy­ment for the whole family.

The old­est retail store on 6th Avenue is a tourist favorite offer­ing Every­thing for your Alaskan Adven­ture!” Fish­ing gear or win­ter rentals, plus the Out­let Upstairs for inex­pen­sive items and a great out­door store staff by Alaskans sin­cere­ly inter­est­ed in you hav­ing your best trip! Stop by and see why 6th Avenue Out­fit­ters Co-op remains a down­town icon peo­ple love. 

What­ev­er your cloth­ing and gear needs are, you can find top-qual­i­ty prod­ucts — along with advice from Alaskan experts — in this long-run­ning fam­i­ly-owned store with loca­tions in Anchor­age, Fair­banks, and Kodiak.

Bring­ing the right gear for a vaca­tion in Alas­ka can seem daunt­ing. This inde­pen­dent store, in the Spe­nard area of Anchor­age, offers both an afford­able way to buy any­thing from rain pants to a moun­tain bike once you get here — as well as an effi­cient way to sell that same gear when it’s time to go home. Essen­tial­ly a con­sign­ment store, Hoard­ing Mar­mot lets folks buy and sell gen­tly used gear — the ulti­mate in good recycling.

Dis­cov­er some­thing tru­ly unique to bring home at this one-of-a-kind gallery that car­ries only work by Alaskan artists. Shop for high-qual­i­ty glass, met­al, and wood art; jew­el­ry; mit­tens; hand­bags; scarves; hand­made soap; jour­nals and note­books; pho­tog­ra­phy; water­col­or prints; cards; stick­ers and more. 

1 - 2 hrs

Alas­ka Wild Berry Prod­ucts has two con­ve­nient loca­tions. One, inside the 5th Avenue Mall in the heart of down­town Anchor­age. The oth­er is just a brief 10-minute dri­ve from down­town. The shop itself fea­tures great Alaskan gifts like Alaskan jel­ly, salmon, meats, and chocolate. 

The store works with local artists and sells authen­tic Alaskan art, but you can take a small­er taste of Alas­ka with you. As a nice alter­na­tive to the usu­al air­port can­dy, pick up a made-in-Alas­ka choco­late bar for your on-the-go snack.

Talk about one-stop shop­ping: At 14,000 square feet, this Anchor­age store is Alaska’s biggest gift shop. Run by the Green fam­i­ly — a local fam­i­ly that has been active in Anchor­age retail for about as long as Anchor­age has exist­ed — Polar Bear makes legit­i­mate claims for hav­ing the biggest selec­tion and low­est prices of all the gift shops in the state.

Drop by this Anchor­age store and dis­cov­er a wide selec­tion of unique jew­el­ry made from gold and min­er­als mined right here in Alas­ka or hand-select­ed from around the world. Find nat­ur­al gold nugget jew­el­ry, a daz­zling selec­tion of dia­monds, jasper, agates, jade, thun­der eggs, pet­ri­fied wood, and fos­sils — set beau­ti­ful­ly in rings, chains, pen­dants, charms, ear­rings, and more.

This Anchor­age insti­tu­tion has a great slo­gan: If you don’t know furs, know your fur­ri­er.” The furs them­selves come from Alas­ka and oth­er parts of the world — such as Scan­di­navia and Rus­sia — and come from mink, beaver, lynx, and fox, to name a few. Go upstairs to see how they make every­thing from coats to slip­pers, most­ly by hand. 

One of the most orig­i­nal gifts you can find in Alas­ka is a piece of cloth­ing made from the under­coat of the musk ox, called Qivuit.” What’s so spe­cial about this fab­ric? It’s fin­er than cash­mere, eight times warmer than wool (and not scratchy like wool), and extreme­ly light. Pick up some items made from this rare, lus­trous fiber when you’re down­town at the co-op; you’ll have a rare trea­sure that can be found nowhere else in the world.

Rea­son­ably priced gifts for friends, fam­i­ly and office mates, or a just a deli­cious snack for the plane ride home. Almost three quar­ters of the shop con­sists of foods and acces­sories that were made, caught or picked in Alas­ka — from smoked salmon, rein­deer sausage and jerky to jams, syrups or Ketchikan-made Ravens Brew Coffee.

Named after the insect that, some joke, could be Alaska’s state bird, the book­store also makes a great stop for trav­el­ers who’ve just land­ed in Alas­ka. You can pick up guide­books, region­al maps, hik­ing trail maps, or even a nice jour­nal to log your trav­els or wildlife sightings.

This unique mar­ket is locat­ed in Wasil­la, about 60 miles north of Anchor­age. You’ll find cre­ations of over 80 Alaskan artists and chefs that make for per­fect sou­venirs or gifts for friends back home.

Season: Year Round $43+ Daily Gear Rentals

When your Alas­ka trav­el plans include out­door activ­i­ties (and they should!), gear up with afford­able, high-qual­i­ty equip­ment rentals from local experts. Alas­ka Out­door Gear Out­fit­ter & Rentals will pull togeth­er what you need for every­thing from a sum­mer cam­pout to a win­ter snow­shoe or auro­ra view­ing expe­di­tion. So get out there!

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North of Anchorage Shopping

This unique mar­ket is locat­ed in Wasil­la, about 60 miles north of Anchor­age. You’ll find cre­ations of over 80 Alaskan artists and chefs that make for per­fect sou­venirs or gifts for friends back home.

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