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Arctic Traveler's Gift Shop 201 Cushman St. Fairbanks, AK. 99701 Phone: (907) 456-7080 Email: arcticgifts@hotmail.com
WE WRAP, PACK, AND SHIP!
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ABOUT US History of the Arctic Travelers Gift Shop The Arctic Travelers Gift and Floral Shop opened at the (then) new Travelers Inn Hotel about 6 blocks from downtown Fairbanks, Alaska in 1955. Economic considerations shortly sparked owners, Kay and Ray Loesche, to move the shop downtown. The sign still read "Travelers Gift and Floral" at their new 532 Second Avenue location, across the alley from Coopers Hardware and across the street from the Co-op and Avakoff Jewelers. In December 1962, they held a "Going Out of Business" sale. Some Seattle suppliers came north to help out with the close out and claim what they could of balances owed them. Frances Groff, a friend of Kay's, came in to help with the 50% off sale for the month of December. She asked her sister-in-law, Ione Groff, to help. Ione was a register nurse by profession and both women thought working at the gift shop would be a nice change of pace. Ione's husband, Stan Groff, sold life insurance. He watched the little retail business with great interest and thought that owning a business would be both adventurous and a way to work towards retirement. He saw that one of the small offices in the back of the store could be used for his insurance business so he made arrangements and bought the business. The couple changed the name to Arctic Travelers Gift Shop so they could put off the expense of a new sign for a few years. The merchandise left over form the 50% off sale was humble. One supplier, Walter Lowen from Indian Arts and Crafts in Seattle, was the only one to give them credit that year. Stan and Ione ran the shop six days a week together until Stan got sick the summer of 1966 and died a month later. He was right about the Gift Shop all along, however, it was a good idea. Ione got help that same year, and it was a good thing too, because the very next year was the Great Flood. The building was condemned and the women moved the business farther down Second Avenue. The later Pipeline construction followed seven years and made Fairbanks a "boomtown" with the Gift Shop right in the middle of it. Ione turned her business over to her daughter, Judy Robertson Divinyi, in 1975 at the age of 65. Five years later, the shop moved again as the corner building at 201 Cushman became vacant. At first the Gift Shop shared the building with Doug O'Neill, TRC Ivory, and H&R Block. Later they took over these spaces and expanded the business. There were later ups and downs, expansions and cutbacks, but the little souvenir shop survived them all to become the best Gift Shop in Interior Alaska. In 2000, Judy sold the gift shop to Jim and Jinx Whitaker. Jinx's family had business roots in the community much like Judy's family and contributed their own touches to the shop. Most recently though, in the summer of 2007 Jinx sold the shop to Angelika Krinner, a German native who has spent the last 25 years living in Alaska. Angelika, along with her amazing staff, are committed in keeping the shop's great reputation thriving for years to come. If you're in the vicinity, please stop on by!
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