Mat-Su Valley Shopping

Browse some of Alaska’s best hand­craft­ed art in this sum­mer­time out­door mar­ket. The artists man their own booths, which gives you a chance to chat with peo­ple like Dora Miller, from Wil­low, Alas­ka, who makes beau­ti­ful jew­el­ry from Alaskan stone. The mar­ket is oper­at­ed by the Denali Arts Council.

It’s hard to miss this shop — it’s the biggest log cab­in on Main Street. And the fam­i­ly who runs it knows Tal­keet­na well — they came here in 1959. Inside is a wide vari­ety of gifts: totem poles, gold-nugget jew­el­ry, quilts, Denali-themed trin­kets, and moose nugget lip balm (called ​“lip chap” in rur­al Alas­ka). Woman also love the ​“red hat ladies dis­play,” a nook filled with hats/​boas, high heels, jew­el­ry and oth­er ​“red hat” style gifts. And it’s…  ...more

This small his­toric cab­in was built in 1930 in the Nor­we­gian style — with hand-hewn logs and lock-lap notch­es with­out nails or spikes — and today it’s owned by local res­i­dents Tom and Margie Waite. The Indi­an fra­grance nag cham­pa wafts over you as you browse Tal­keet­na’s most orig­i­nal col­lec­tion of native art­work; Margie’s Aleut ances­try has giv­en her great con­nec­tions and insight into native cul­ture. Look up on the walls and you’ll see a squirrel…  ...more

Danc­ing Leaf Gallery. Own­ers Sta­cy and Troy Smi­ley built this shop new for 2011! The large build­ing fea­tures Sta­cy’s sig­na­ture batiks and silk screens done right here in Tal­keet­na from her own linoleum block print. Sta­cy is also known for her mixed media jew­el­ry, like neclaces of a neck­lace of pearl, glass, wood, stone and metal.

You’ll real­ly get a feel for Tal­keet­na in this lit­tle shop, since locals own and run it. You can see exclu­sive items by Tal­keet­na pho­tog­ra­ph­er Jim Trump and scrimshaw artist Mary Barr. And don’t miss the unusu­al ear­rings from a Tal­keet­na outdoorsman/​artisan; they’re made of beaver teeth and oth­er unique materials.

As this shop’s name would sug­gest, you’ll find beads of all kinds here: glass, ceram­ic, and crys­tal, just for starters. Own­er Beth Valen­tine grew up here in Tal­keet­na and trav­els to exot­ic places in search of beads with beau­ty and style. She also car­ries jew­el­ry, hand­bags, hats, plaques, and glass­ware from all over the world; it’s all locat­ed in a cute log cab­in with a sun­burst pat­tern locat­ed on the right as you enter town.

Stop into this small log cab­in near the end of Main Street Tal­keet­na to find hand­craft­ed Alaskan made goods. You’ll find prod­ucts rang­ing from Dev­il’s Club salves, goat milk soaps, organ­ic teas & herbs, and stoneware pot­tery made right here in the Upper Susit­na Val­ley. They’re also the first com­pa­ny in Alas­ka to offer a line of Hemp Seed Oil balms, soaps, and oils. 

Home to a lit­tle gro­cery store and the West Rib Brew Pub, Nagleys also has inter­net access and a few camp­ing sup­plies upstairs. There’s a rich his­to­ry here: Nagleys sup­plied min­ers and trap­pers start­ing in 1921; you’ll see the antique store items lin­ing the walls. Rumor has it that the orig­i­nal own­er, Horace Nagley, kept the store open for busi­ness while rolling the build­ing on logs down Main Street to its cur­rent location.

You will find a vari­ety of Alas­ka themed fab­rics, pat­terns and kits. Plus a huge selec­tion of batiks, nov­el­ty fab­rics, bright col­or­ful or earthy toned fab­rics. Join one of our many quilt­ing class­es or select a new Janome sewing machine.

A com­mit­ment to Alaskan artists and native Alaskan tra­di­tions is why you’ll want to stop in at the Tokosha Cof­fee & Gift Shop. Here is where you can indulge in your cof­fee fix from morn­ing to night. Enjoy lattes, espres­sos as well as to-go sand­wich­es, sodas and snacks. Take it with you or linger as you take in the Denali views. Most of the gift shop’s prod­ucts are hand-made by natives or craft­ed in-state, mean­ing you’ll be sup­port­ing locals  ...more