Copyright Anchorage Daily News
Open & Shut is an ongoing series looking at the comings and goings of businesses in Southcentral Alaska. If you know of a business opening or closing in the area, send a note to reporter Alex DeMarban at alex@adn.com with “Open & Shut” in the subject line. OPEN Monster Pet Wash: A family that owns storage sites around Anchorage opened this self-serve pet wash because the operations are common in the Lower 48. “We thought we’d get in front of it before they’re all over town,” said Tyler Scott, who runs the family business. Monster Pet Wash is located in northeast Anchorage at 4255 DeBarr Road, behind Costco. It’s open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. To create the business, the family converted a portion of one of their Publix Self Storage sites. Monster provides private rooms with automated wash systems. There are waist-high sinks for pets, warm-air dryers, warm-water shampoo sprayers and waterproof aprons. There’s also overhead music with volume control. Demand is strong because Anchorage is a dog town, Scott said. “And I don’t have to tell you how dirty they get,” said Scott, recently demonstrating the service by scrubbing down Cheese, his yellow Lab. The place gets all manner of pets, he said. Owners race in with filthy dogs. Others come for regular scrubbings, a tangle of pets in tow. Some owners use the hot-air blowers to tease out fur coats. The cost is $25 for 20 minutes, and people can wash multiple dogs, cats or whatever animals. One customer even had a pig, he said. “It’s nice to bring them here and not get your house dirty or smelly,” Scott said. The family business started when Scott’s in-laws, Craig Smith and Diane Black-Smith, bought a Publix storage site in 1989 and added storage locations from there, Scott said. They used their money from helping clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Nearly 20 years ago, they opened a car wash with rooms for pet washing, in South Anchorage off Dimond Boulevard. But life got busy and time passed before the family could focus again on pet washes, Scott said. The new Monster Pet Wash serves just pets, not cars, he said. The next one is set to open in summer, off Dowling Road near the Seward Highway, at a Publix site there. Last Frontier Freight Forwarding: Shannon and Mike Croffut launched this company to help Alaskans solve shipping problems like policies that exclude shipments to the state. The idea came to Shannon a few years ago when she planned to fill the couple’s new home with products from Wayfair, the online furniture and decor company. Until, that is, she learned the free shipping policy didn’t extend to Alaska. “Wayfair was having all their big ads about free shipping and I was like, ‘Oh, this is great,’” she said. “I was going to get all this cute stuff.” “But I went to check out and it was like, $3,000 or something insane, just to ship some lamps and a couch,” she said. “I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’” Last Frontier Freight Forwarding works with another business to receive and consolidate freight in Washington state. The items are hauled to Alaska once weekly by ship, to Last Frontier’s warehouse at 6228 Nielsen Way, near C Street and 64th Avenue. On Tuesday, a shipping company delivered a bunch of big boxes with couch sectionals, dining room chairs, giant tarps, a dehumidifier, some e-bikes and other items. Solar panels, an industrial freeze drier, even a chicken plucker have arrived before, she said. Frontier doesn’t move vehicles. Items with lithium-ion batteries, like e-bikes or power tools, are frequently shipped, she said. There’s an extra hazmat charge for those items — the fire risk needs special handling, she said. The couple works to move items inexpensively, on a reliable schedule, since small shipments are sometimes overlooked by big freight companies with major clients like Walmart, she said. The couple has day jobs unrelated to logistics, she said. But after the Wayfair fiasco, she brushed up on the industry by doing research and talking with shipping companies. Business is growing; twice-weekly shipments are planned. “It’s just kind of crazy where this has gone,” she said. The warehouse is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Item pickup is available by appointment, outside those hours. Wei: Jun Shao and Hui Su opened this Chinese restaurant in August, marking their return to the Anchorage dining scene. The couple operated China Town restaurant on Government Hill until 2009, when they moved to Seattle to support their daughter at the University of Washington. Shao said Anchorage is his second home, after Shenyang in Northeast China, where he grew up. They opened Wei in part to inject new life into downtown, which has lost some of its vibrancy, he said. “We need to be part of the downtown improvement,” he said. Wei is located at Sixth Avenue and I Street, in the brightly remodeled space that once housed the LED Ultra Lounge, until a few years ago. Its address is 901 W. Sixth Ave. One goal of the restaurant is honoring China’s culinary history of thousands of years, Shao said during a break from overseeing quality control in the kitchen. A standout meal is the Peking duck set, a national dish in China that’s presented to visiting dignitaries, he said. Wei’s version is made with flavorful Long Island fowl, following 48 hours of preparation. Ordering it requires a reservation. The roasting takes one hour in a special oven, he said. Every dish is handmade, he said. That includes the dumplings and pork-belly bao sliders, braised prime beef short ribs, Sichuan fish in tangy broth, and clay pot rice, an unusual dish in the U.S., he said. Other fare includes rice bowls, beef rice noodle soup, mixed noodles and salads — all popular with the downtown lunch crowd, he said. The couple also owns Dumpling Generation restaurants in the Seattle area. Wei serves lunch from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and dinner from 5-10 p.m. It’s closed on Mondays. Let’s Stay Home: Former dog musher Erin Downey said she opened this Midtown shop in September to sell home furnishings and decor that radiate cozy vibes. “We want to create an environment at home that you just really don’t want to leave,” she said, “because you love it.” She sells new items and a smaller number of higher-end used items on consignment. There’s also an option for custom-made furniture designed by her boyfriend, Jeremy Cooper of Borealis Woodworks. He’s currently modifying two lounge chairs so they swivel, at a customer’s request. Downey said she works with vendors that don’t have other business in Anchorage, in order to carry unique pieces. She tries to keep prices low by relying on family volunteers, like her mom, Karen Waymire, who does a little bit of everything. There are hundreds of decorative items: an acacia wood table, a mango wood cabinet, a sheepskin butterfly chair, a multi-part chopping board that’s also wall art, a minimalist sage-green sofa, accent tables, large paintings, throw pillows, overhead lights, candleholders and figurines of birds, reindeer, dogs and other animals. Some items come from Vietnam and India, where tariffs so far have not been an issue, maybe because vendors absorb the cost, she said. “All the wood is real wood, no particle board,” she said. As a musher, Downey spent several years organizing the Norman Vaughan Serum ’25 Run from Nenana to Nome, honoring the 1925 lifesaving mission when mushers hauled diphtheria antitoxin to the village. More recently, she worked office jobs as a consultant-for-hire. The furniture store marks a new life path. ”I love to shop, decorate my home and thrift," she said. “And I’m like, ‘Why not put it all together?’” Let’s Stay Home is open Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday from 10 to 6; and Sunday from noon to 5. It’s located in the former home of Chickabiddy Books, at 4240 Old Seward Highway, north of Tudor Road, in suites 8 and 9. Alaska Kettlebell: Jody Potosky moved his longtime kettlebell gym into a newly remodeled space this summer to support future growth, and the roughly 60 lifters he counts as members. He operated out of a three-car garage for more than a decade, patiently building his clientele and saving money in the early days. He even used to make his own sandbags, though he now buys them. But space in the garage was getting tight. “I had the goldfish syndrome,” he said. “The goldfish can only get as big as the bowl he’s in.” The new Alaska Kettlebell is near the Alaska Rock Gym and Moose’s Tooth, at 3300 Fairbanks St. It provides group and individual workouts that employ kettlebells, dumbbells, sand bags, barbells and other equipment. He mixes in traditional body workouts with moves like push-ups, planks and step-ups. “We’re coaching from about 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday,” he said. The workouts enhance cardio, strength and flexibility, he said. Beginner and introductory classes are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. All-level classes are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Potosky won Alaska’s 2010 Strongman competition and holds records in the Alaska Scottish Highland Games like the weight-laden farmer’s walk. He is also a trained kettlebell instructor. Kettlebells give a full-body workout, he said. “This sounds like the beginning of a joke, but I’ve had workouts with a strong man, a runner and a ballerina,” he said. “We run the same workout, and everyone gets what they need.“ On Thursday, Potosky was spotting for LeeAnna Chronister on the barbell. Chronister said she’s had “amazing” results after private classes with Potosky in recent months to stabilize and strengthen her muscles. She has a medical condition that causes dislocated joints. It had led to frequent injuries. “I’ve made a lot of progress,” she said. “I’ve gained a lot of strength and I’ve lost some weight. The fact that I’m deadlifting anything now, let alone almost my body weight, is pretty awesome.” SHUT Mexico in Alaska: Maria-Elena Ball loved this restaurant so much she thought she’d die of old age serving salsa. Instead, her health caught up with her. In September, she abruptly closed Mexico In Alaska after more than a half-century run. She opened it in 1972, building a South Anchorage landmark known for real Mexican food, not Tex-Mex. It served items like carne asada, chiles rellenos, tacos de borrego with slow-cooked lamb and, of course, the rich mole sauce made with chocolate, nuts and peppers. Ball deliberated the closure for only a weekend. Any longer, and Mexico in Alaska would still be open, she said. “Once you were a customer of Mexico in Alaska, you became part of my family and I became part of yours,” she said. “So it was truly amazing. And I loved it.” Running the restaurant had challenges in the early days, like the dearth of key ingredients at Alaska stores. Ball’s mom shipped up fresh cilantro from Texas, for one thing. But new challenges arose in recent years. The pandemic gutted the workforce, leaving employees scarce. Inflation added new problems. But the deciding factor was the macular degeneration that keeps Bell from driving. She might not have been able to work at the restaurant this winter. “It was time,” she said. “When you get to be 85, you have to do things a lot slower,” she said. “I couldn’t take care of my friends and my customers the way I used to. And that was a big thing.” “I couldn’t go in the evening and get to know everybody,” she said. “And I could no longer see the children grow up, like I did before.” Ball originally opened Mexico in Alaska in Mountain View, in her early 30s. She’s from the Mexican state of Michoacan, and had moved to Alaska alone a few years earlier, saving money to start her own business. “The restaurant was there to make me happy,” she said. “To make my friends happy. To cater to the things we do in Mexico.” Ball plans to stay in Alaska, perhaps volunteering at a hospital. She can translate Spanish, comfort babies and talk to sick people. One thing that’s not changing: her inspiring happiness. When she came to Alaska, she found the freedom she sought and friends who always helped, she said. “It has been the kind of life that you make for yourself, where you are happy and content, and love what you are doing,” she said. Little Dipper Diner: This diner closed in October after a decade in business, blaming this year’s high prices. Little Dipper Diner, tucked into a business center in South Anchorage at 1921 W. Dimond Blvd., was known for its American menu with burgers and sandwiches and breakfast dishes like reindeer Benedict or country fried steak. During the pandemic in 2020, it was the rare business that refused to follow emergency orders to temporarily halt indoor dining, amid concerns about its survival. That led to a lawsuit from the municipality. Owners Samantha and Dewey Wells challenged it but lost. On Oct. 13, Little Dipper’s Facebook page said the diner is sad to close. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest appreciation to our loyal guests for their nine years of unwavering support,” said the post, which generated a flood of disappointment and more than 250 comments. “Our commitment to our establishment has been invaluable. Although we successfully navigated the COVID-19 shutdown, the economic repercussions have been severe, and this year’s escalating costs have presented significant challenges. We are deeply grateful for your loyalty and patronage!!”
