Best Places to Shop in Anchorage

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.

Authen­tic Alas­ka art shows both incred­i­ble crafts­man­ship — and also a soul. This long­time gallery in down­town Anchor­age has estab­lished a great rep­u­ta­tion for pro­vid­ing a direct link between the Native Alaskan art com­mu­ni­ty and art lovers who want to embrace both the beau­ty and tra­di­tions with­in a piece. 

Out­door farm­ers mar­ket in the park­ing area of the North­way Mall 

Part of the com­plex sur­round­ing the Hotel Cap­tain Cook, this branch of the renowned inte­ri­or design­er offers Alaskan art­work, such as oils by Mark Bartlett, and a bevy of unique gifts such as hand­made San­tas dressed in fur; del­i­cate minia­ture ships and planes; or papi­er mach clocks shaped like bears or wolves with tick-tock­ing tongues. Hours Open daily. 

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.

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.

Whether sea kayak­ing in Prince William Sound or walk­ing in down­town Anchor­age on a windy day, you’ll learn that you need the best gear for Alas­ka. Adven­ture Appar­el is the place to get that gear. They car­ry the largest selec­tion of Patag­o­nia and Arc’teryx cloth­ing in the state, as well as oth­er top out­door brands. Run by gear­heads with years in the busi­ness, they’ll help you find the gear you need for your adven­ture, whether that’s fishing,…  ...more

Out­door gear sup­ply store and equip­ment rentals Cross-coun­try skis: $19 per day, $68 per week Snow­shoes: $16 first day, $7 each addi­tion­al day, $55 per week Kayaks: $30 first day, $15 each addi­tion­al day, $90 per week Pad­dle­boards: $45 first day, $20 each addi­tion­al day, $145 per week Canoes: $45 first day, $20 each addi­tion­al day, $130 per week

The biggest hunt­ing and fish­ing out­fit­ter store in Anchor­age, Sports­man­’s Ware­house offers all the gear you’ll need at rea­son­able prices. 

Alas­ka Moun­taineer­ing and Hik­ing (AMH) is an Anchor­age insti­tu­tion that has been in busi­ness for over 30 years. AMH, offers a large selec­tion of out­er­wear and base lay­ers that are designed for tough win­ter con­di­tions. These are the guys who out­fit climbers seek­ing to sum­mit Denali, so they are experts. 

This down­town Anchor­age insti­tu­tion stores and process­es salmon, hal­ibut, crab, shrimp and more. They can smoke, can, or freeze your own catch­es for the trip home, or you can pick up fresh or frozen gourmet gift packs from their retail counter. On request they can also delay ship­ment until you’re back home.

This local-favorite store in down­town Anchor­age, close to many of the city’s biggest attrac­tions, has every­thing you didn’t real­ize that you need­ed when you were back at home pack­ing your bags for the trip to Alas­ka. Whether you are long­ing for a bet­ter wind­break­er, a pair of gloves or some bet­ter hik­ing socks you will find it here. 

JCPen­ney is one of Amer­i­ca’s largest depart­ment store, cat­a­log and e‑commerce retail­ers, employ­ing 150,000 store asso­ciates. Look for the Opti­cal and Por­trait Stu­dio inside the store.

The largest book­store in Alas­ka that is also stocked with a stel­lar selec­tion of used DVDs and Blu-Rays, and thou­sands of CDs and LPs. They buy and trade for store cred­it or inven­to­ry 7 days a week. Hours Mon-Thur: 10am-8pm Fri-Sat: 10am-9pm Sun: 11am-7pm 

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!

Out­side is a sled dog stat­ue des­ig­nat­ing the start­ing line of the Rondy World Cham­pi­onship Sled Dog Races and the Idi­tar­od, but don’t stop there — step inside to the Dog Mush­ing Hall of Fame & Rondy Head­quar­ters! Learn about the state Sport of Alas­ka that has cap­ti­vat­ed the world for decades: his­to­ry, races, dogs and mush­ers. Check out con­tem­po­rary high tech sprint sleds, hand-made wood­en sleds or freight sleds once used by Arctic…  ...more

This Anchor­age insti­tu­tion stores and process­es salmon, hal­ibut, crab, shrimp and more. They can smoke, can or freeze your own catch­es for the trip home, or you can pick up fresh or frozen gourmet gift packs from their retail counter. On request they can also delay ship­ment until you’re back home.

The gallery space show­cas­es curat­ed shows that fea­ture orig­i­nal art­work from renowned, mid-career, and emerg­ing Alas­ka Native artists on a month­ly to bi-month­ly basis.

Con­ve­nient­ly locat­ed near down­town Anchor­age, New Sagaya City Mar­ket is more than a gro­cery store. Stop in for an Espres­so and fresh­ly baked crois­sant, vis­it the soup and sal­ad bar, order a fresh made sand­wich, or grab a hot dish. There is a small sit­ting area indoors, as well as out­doors dur­ing the sum­mer months if you would like to dine-in. Or, take your items to go.