{"id":456,"date":"2019-11-05T12:28:55","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T21:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/?p=456"},"modified":"2019-11-05T12:29:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T21:29:38","slug":"mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik."},"content":{"rendered":"

THE SOURCE: Alaska Public Media<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

When Mark Begich was a U.S. senator, he took visiting dignitaries on trips to rural Alaska. Every time, he said, he\u2019d drag them into the village store, to show just how much residents had to pay for laundry detergent or a gallon of milk.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversally, among all of them: shock. They would look at a head of lettuce that might be seven, eight, nine dollars and they\u2019re looking at you, like, \u2018What?\u2019\u201d Begich said. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to understand: How does that happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

A year after losing his campaign for governor, Begich is working in the private sector, where he\u2019s now trying to solve that same problem. This week, a company he runs is assuming management of the big grocery store in Utqiagvik, the North Slope hub town of 4,500 people.<\/p>\n

In an interview in his Anchorage office last week, Begich said his company, Stuaqpak Inc., will offer lower prices and better products, and be more accountable to residents than the North West Company<\/a>, the publicly traded Canadian corporation whose subsidiary ran the store previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we are doing something that is transformational to rural Alaska on a basic issue, which is survival on a food product that can be affordable,\u201d Begich said.<\/p>\n

But Begich\u2019s business is launching an untested model, and it will still face competition from North West, whose subsidiary, Alaska Commercial Co<\/a>., has already reopened in a different spot.<\/p>\n

AC welcomes the competition, said Walt Pickett, the company\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s any learnings that come out of this, I\u2019m excited about that,\u201d Pickett said. \u201cIf they found a better mousetrap, let\u2019s figure out that mouse trap and replicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To some degree, expensive groceries in rural Alaska are inescapable: Dozens of villages across the state are disconnected from the road system, meaning that goods have to be boated or flown in.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also a persistent sense that AC takes advantage of the lack of competition in Bush communities like Utqiagvik, said Elise Patkotak, a longtime resident who now lives in Anchorage.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, she said, those frustrations are justified.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd other times it is just a matter of, you\u2019re so tired of how much they\u2019re making you pay,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of a way of life \u2014 you have no other alternative, so all you can do is bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

AC has 33 locations in Alaska, from the North Slope to Southeast, and nearly all of them have competition, Pickett said. That includes Utqiagvik, where there were two other grocery stores before Begich\u2019s company arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do everything in our power to minimize costs,\u201d Pickett said. \u201cWe are pretty good experts at what we do. And at the end of the day it\u2019s just an expensive effort to move product into these remote communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

AC was originally formed in the 18th century as the Russian American Trading Company, then purchased and renamed in 1867 by a pair of San Francisco merchants. The North West Company acquired it in 1992.<\/p>\n

The company has 950 employees in Alaska, with revenues of some $240 million a year \u2014 roughly $20 million of which come from Utqiagvik, according to Pickett. It occupied its most recent building since the late 1990s, he said.<\/p>\n

AC\u2019s landlord in that location was Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp<\/a>., the Alaska Native village corporation for Utqiagvik. When AC\u2019s lease came up for renewal, UIC put out a request for proposals and picked Begich\u2019s group out of the three respondents, said Nagruk Harcharek, a UIC official.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re all excited at the opportunity to hopefully make the cost of living for this community a little bit more affordable,\u201d Harcharek said.<\/p>\n

Begich is president of the company, Stuaqpak, that\u2019s taking over the Utqiagvik store; other investors include Begich\u2019s nephew Nicholas Begich III and Jason Evans, an Inupiat businessman. Stuaqpak is also working with a separate consulting firm run by Begich, Northern Compass Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stuaqpak took possession of the store late Thursday, and Begich and others are now in Utqiagvik preparing to reopen it as soon as this week, with what he describes as several improvements.<\/p>\n

First, Stuaqpak is working with a wholesaler, JB Gottstein<\/a>, that Begich said will allow the store to sell basic goods at lower prices. Second, he says his Alaska-owned company will be more responsive to feedback than AC and its parent corporation, North West, which is based in Canada. When people in Utqiagvik have complaints, \u201cI\u2019ll get the message, I guarantee you,\u201d Begich said.<\/p>\n

Third, Begich\u2019s group is making physical changes to the store, in an effort to turn it into more of a gathering place. It\u2019s planning to redo an area that Alaska Native artists sell their work on consignment, and it\u2019s also bringing in what Begich calls a \u201chigh-quality Alaskan coffee roaster\u201d \u2014 he won\u2019t say which, but think Steamdot or Kaladi Bros.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is, at the end of the day, it\u2019s a place that people can see as a destination,\u201d Begich said.<\/p>\n

Patkotak, the longtime Utqiagvik resident, said her friends in town are taking a \u201cwait-and-see\u201d approach. Begich isn\u2019t the first businessman to come to the community with big promises about groceries, she said \u2014 she remembers similar hype around the opening of the store under AC\u2019s management two decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a big brouhaha about how everything was going to be more wonderful,\u201d Patkotak said. \u201cAnd eventually it just settles back into, you know, you can buy this avocado for $20 and hope to God it ripens before it rottens.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Begich\u2019s model works, it could expand to other communities in rural Alaska, he said.<\/p>\n

AC isn\u2019t going away, though. It was expecting to renew its lease for the Utqiagvik building and planned to make its own improvements there, said Pickett, the general manager. \u201cIt was a shock\u201d when Begich\u2019s company won the bid, he added.<\/p>\n

AC spent the past six weeks remodeling the new building it purchased, but the company sees the space as a short-term solution, Pickett said. Ultimately, AC expects to have a bigger footprint in Utqiagvik, whether that\u2019s through an addition, a different space or a second store, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to continue to provide for the people in that market on the North Slope,\u201d Pickett said. He added: \u201cWe\u2019re looking at all options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for original article.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE SOURCE: Alaska Public Media When Mark Begich was a U.S. senator, he took visiting dignitaries on trips to rural Alaska. Every time, he said, he\u2019d drag them into the village store, to show just how much residents had to pay for laundry detergent or a gallon of milk. \u201cUniversally, among all of them: shock. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik. - Northern Compass Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik. - Northern Compass Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE SOURCE: Alaska Public Media When Mark Begich was a U.S. senator, he took visiting dignitaries on trips to rural Alaska. Every time, he said, he\u2019d drag them into the village store, to show just how much residents had to pay for laundry detergent or a gallon of milk. \u201cUniversally, among all of them: shock. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Northern Compass Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-05T21:28:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-05T21:29:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NCG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NCG\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/\",\"name\":\"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik. - Northern Compass Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-05T21:28:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-05T21:29:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/\",\"name\":\"Northern Compass Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453\",\"name\":\"NCG\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"NCG\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/northerncompas.wpengine.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/author\/ncg-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik. - Northern Compass Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik. - Northern Compass Group","og_description":"THE SOURCE: Alaska Public Media When Mark Begich was a U.S. senator, he took visiting dignitaries on trips to rural Alaska. Every time, he said, he\u2019d drag them into the village store, to show just how much residents had to pay for laundry detergent or a gallon of milk. \u201cUniversally, among all of them: shock. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/","og_site_name":"Northern Compass Group","article_published_time":"2019-11-05T21:28:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-05T21:29:38+00:00","author":"NCG","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"NCG","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/","url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/","name":"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik. - Northern Compass Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-11-05T21:28:55+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-05T21:29:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/in-the-news\/mark-begich-is-opening-a-grocery-store-in-utqiagvik\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mark Begich is opening a grocery store in Utqiagvik."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/","name":"Northern Compass Group","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4052c62f5751f040875dfd3928ef1453","name":"NCG","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da0b94f1dbda4c07f9c9ac79454e1d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"NCG"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/northerncompas.wpengine.com"],"url":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/author\/ncg-2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northerncompassgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}