 With reasonable prices and no sales tax, Anchorage is the place to shop in Alaska, especially if you’ll be traveling on where prices quickly rise with increased distance from the state’s transportation hub. Souvenir offerings include finely crafted ivory, Native masks, baskets, dolls, and carved jade. If authenticity is important to you, the shop or gallery where you purchase a piece should be able to tell you the artist’s name, cultural background, village or region of origin.
Some of the most interesting shops, galleries and gift shops are located in the downtown area, including a few spots unique to the Far North. If you're in the market for fur, Anchorage has a wide selection and no sales tax. Year-round demand keeps volume high and prices reasonable. Downtown also has several art galleries. Art openings happen on the first Friday of each month, turning the evening into a mini-festival.
At 6th Avenue and H Street, you’ll find the Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers' Co-operative. The co-op sells only items knit of qiviut (ki-vee-ute), the light, warm, silky underhair of the musk ox, collected from shedding animals and knitted by 250 Alaska Native women living in villages across the state. They're expensive but unique, and the quality is extraordinary. Also check out the downtown Ulu Factory, where traditional curved knives are made and sold. A dark brown building on 4th Ave. has been converted into a collection of Native-oriented shops, including one representing the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Native artists can sometimes be seen at work in the central common area.
For some of the best Native craft items available anywhere, get beyond the downtown area (by car or bus) to the Hospital Auxiliary Craft Shop in the Alaska Native Medical Center, filled with authentic traditional pieces made by those eligible to use the hospital. Don’t miss the exceptional Native art on the walls of the hospital.
The Downtown Saturday Market at 300 C St, held weekly from mid-May to mid-September from 10 am to 6 pm regardless of the weather, offers something for every taste and style. As many as 15,000 people shop at more than 300 booths each week for antiques, books, Alaskan-grown vegetables, carvings, paintings, photography, ceramics, homemade candles and soaps, home-grown spices and mushrooms, live performers, jewelry makers and more. Find a great deal, enjoy some entertainment, try a multitude of great foods (reindeer jerky anyone?) and enjoy the festive atmosphere. |
