Shopping in Alaska

[kayehall]

Looking for authentic Alaskan shopping.  Not the typical T-shirt shops.  Recommendations for quality products.  Possibly with shipping to the US.  Ports are Icy Strait Point/Hoonah, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, in that order.  Don't think we will have much time in the first port due to whale watching.  Not sure about Ketchikan.  So looking for a couple of places to focus on.  I will be looking for the 2 symbols that indicate local vendors.  Thanks

[Northern Aurora]

In the old Cannery building in ISP there are several interesting shops.

 

In Juneau I always visit the Sealaska Heritage Institute's gift store.

[Crew News]

Glacier Smoothie Soap Shop on Franklin Street in Juneau is locally-owned.  Their soap is made with glacier silt with amazing scents.  My preference is "Juneau Gold". 

[1025cruise]

4 hours ago, kayehall said:

Possibly with shipping to the US. 

Alaska is part of the US.

[Northern Aurora]

I forgot to to mention the Juneau Artists Gallery which is an artist cooperative.  They rent space at 175 S. Franklin and are on the ground level.  Quite frankly, quality ranges greatly, but I have purchased some lovely earrings there.

[BeasleysMom66]

The sticker you are looking for I believe is a polar bear.  That in the window indicates locally owned.  In Skagway I shopped at Lynch-Kennedy and got two items by local artists one a pin and the other a small otter for my SIL.  Both made of woolly mammoth ivory.  Juneau I mainly stuck to the Red Dog Saloon but that was for t-shirts most of their stuff was toursity otherwise vs. local art.  

 

Ketchikan I didn't go too far from the pier but much of what I saw was cruise industry owned shopping. I did get smoked salmon from Salmon Etc from a wonderful gentleman who runs it.  The store is REALLY small but has samples to try.  Those I bought smoked salmon back to have LOVED it.  You just have to wander up and down the small streets and you will find a LOT of hidden treasures.  Near the Salmon Etc. shop is a furrier and a few art galleries as well.  

[NWA395]

The Woodlands in Ketchikan is locally owned.

 

https://woodlandsclothing.com/

[Northern Aurora]

12 hours ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

The sticker you are looking for I believe is a polar bear.  .....

 

There are actually two stickers.  

 

The double bears is a "Made in Alaska" program sticker.   This is administered by the State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.  There actually has been a surprising (at least to me as someone who lives in Alaska) amount of cheating on the double bear sticker.

 

The silver hand sticker (administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts) indicates made in Alaska by a First Person (indiginous) artist.  Much smaller community so not as easy to cheat.

 

There are no stickers for display in windows to indicate a locally owned business.  And just because it is a locally owned business does not mean that they sell products locally produced.

[Ferry_Watcher]

On 6/18/2024 at 10:07 AM, Northern Aurora said:

In the old Cannery building in ISP there are several interesting shops.

 

In Juneau I always visit the Sealaska Heritage Institute's gift store.

 

I agree - these are also my top two places to shop.

[Ferry_Watcher]

23 hours ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

got two items by local artists one a pin and the other a small otter for my SIL.  Both made of woolly mammoth ivory.

 

I am guessing that the material was something different, as the use/commerce of ivory is illegal.

[BeasleysMom66]

8 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

I am guessing that the material was something different, as the use/commerce of ivory is illegal.

 

Per Google and National Geographic wooly mammoth ivory is legal in the US but must be properly documented to ensure it is not elephant ivory. 

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/wildlife-woolly-mammoth-ivory-trade-legal-china-african-elephant-poaching

 

My pieces came with a card and signed by the artist/shop of their authenticity and sourcing.  I too questioned the legality as I didn't want to spend the money to have it seized and was given the documentation which I read in total prior to purchase.

[BeasleysMom66]

19 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

And just because it is a locally owned business does not mean that they sell products locally produced.

 

I am looking at you Tongass Trading Co. in Ketchikan.  A company that has been there for a LONG time but most if not all the stuff I saw was made in China tourist crap.

[Northern Aurora]

30 minutes ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

30 minutes ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

I am looking at you Tongass Trading Co. in Ketchikan.  A company that has been there for a LONG time but most if not all the stuff I saw was made in China tourist crap.

 

In all fairness to Tongass Trading Company I have never seen any products there with the either the silver hand or double bear stickers on the product.  I've never seen them make the claim that the product was made in Alaska.

 

However there was a shop in Juneau about 15 years ago which was caught placing the made in Alaska stickers on products clearly not manufactured in the state.  And last summer (or was it the summer of 2022?) a shop on the Glitter Gulch boardwalk outside of Denali was caught blatantly claiming products were made in Yakutat, Alaska when they were from  Asia.

[BeasleysMom66]

1 hour ago, Northern Aurora said:

In all fairness to Tongass Trading Company I have never seen any products there with the either the silver hand or double bear stickers on the product.  I've never seen them make the claim that the product was made in Alaska.

 

I made that statement not based on the stickers.  For more detail and color I specifically asked a local for directions to locally owned businesses as I was not interested in purchasing anything from cruise ship owned stores with garbage from China.  He went on and on about Tongass and how they had been there for over 100 years, all the locals shop there etc.  I went in and it was obvious it was all tourist knick knacks ordered from China in bulk and I "cruised" right on out.  No pun intended.  I take it back.  I did go back and buy a package of Jelly Bellys mostly because I was jonesing for some but as for heart felt souveniers that represented Alaska to take to friends and family:  HARD NO from Tongass.

[Northern Aurora]

28 minutes ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

I made that statement not based on the stickers.  For more detail and color I specifically asked a local for directions to locally owned businesses as I was not interested in purchasing anything from cruise ship owned stores with garbage from China.  He went on and on about Tongass and how they had been there for over 100 years, all the locals shop there etc.  I went in and it was obvious it was all tourist knick knacks ordered from China in bulk and I "cruised" right on out.  No pun intended.  I take it back.  I did go back and buy a package of Jelly Bellys mostly because I was jonesing for some but as for heart felt souveniers that represented Alaska to take to friends and family:  HARD NO from Tongass.

 

 

Do you realize that the upper level of the main Tongass Trading Company is not a souvenir store?

It is filled with fishing tackle, heavy duty rain clothing, Carhartt clothing, X-tuffs and so forth.  The locals due indeed shop there at that outfitters section of the TTC.

[Coral]

I like this store in Ketchikan along Creek Street: https://sammcgeesalaska.com  I often buy local jams.

 

I also stop at Glacier Soap shop in Juneau.

 

There is a post office in Skagway along the main drag that you can mail items home.

Edited June 21 by Coral

[Gsel]

Love Sam McGees! Theobroma dark chocolate is my favourite. 

[Vagabond Knight]

Here's what I found on the Tanana Valley Farmers Market website.

 

[BeasleysMom66]

16 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

It is filled with fishing tackle, heavy duty rain clothing, Carhartt clothing, X-tuffs and so forth.  

 

Do you realize that living in Las Vegas I have no need for heavy duty rain clothing, fishing tackle or X-tuffs nor does anyone want them as a souvenier or keepsake from Alaska?  There were multiple Tongass locations and nor was there enough time to go through all of them.  

[SoloAlaska]

KetchiCandies makes amazing chocolates that were a big hit with my family and friends. They have some great Alaskan flavors as well.

[LeeW]

Corrington's in Skagway sells lots of native work.  Up Broadway almost to the Post Office.  Only place we have ever seen tiny baleen baskets (only about five artists in the world).  Jade, mammoth and walrus ivory, horn carvings.  

Edited Thursday at 03:43 AM by LeeW
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[FreestyleNovice]

Whoa the negativity here.. 

 

I've found Tongass Trading Company very useful for buying our family some extra clothing and a new pair of flip flops for the pool deck when the Alaska weather was quite warm! So I, for one, appreciate having such a large store close to the ship and I support locally owned businesses.

 

Talking about tacky souvenirs.. The China made wooden clog and tulip keychains sold here in The Netherlands probably fly IN as cargo on the same airplane as the people that buy them. It's part of the tourism industry, not so sure why one would be so aggressive about it. I am glad a locally owned business can make a living in Alaska and make some extra with souvenirs, running a business in Alaska is quite different from what I've seen and what I am used to in Europe in ways of logistics and challenges.

[LeeW]

Seem to recall a Russian store that sold stacking dolls in Juneau.  House of Russia on Franklin.  Military vet runs it.