Ultimate Alaska Shopping Guide (What To Buy)

When going to far-off places whether on vacation or a work trip, it’s hard not to come home with cool souvenirs. Alaska is one of those unique places to visit that has so much to offer. Here’s our Alaska shopping guide and things you can buy that’s uniquely Alaskan. Hopefully, this guide can help you narrow down what you want to buy and budget for them before you leave for your trip.

Planning an Alaska Trip? Here’s what to do:

The Made in Alaska Symbol

If you find this picture of a polar bear in any of the products that you buy in Alaska, this is the Made in Alaska symbol. Whether it is an accessory, food, or a toy, this symbol means that the product is made locally by Alaskans.

No Sales Tax in Alaska

Did you know there’s no sales tax in Alaska? Meaning, that if you want something from the store, whatever is on the label, is the final price that you’ll pay at the cashier. There are no exemptions to the sales tax in Alaska either: everything you buy has no sales tax added to the price.

Best Souvenirs To Buy: Alaska Shopping Guide

To help narrow down what you have to look for when you visit Alaska, here are the best souvenirs that you can buy and look for. You can get these in any city or town you visit, but the prices vary across cities.

Handmade Accessories and Jewelry

This is a topic on its own, but I’ll break the accessories and jewelry down to even more items below. This is one of the best things to buy when in the city,

Ancient Ivory and Scrimshaw Accessories

My favorite souvenir category! I am obsessed with ancient ivory and scrimshaw earrings, and I buy a few of them whenever I visit Alaska, which isn’t often. Every single one is unique because ivory has a different color quality that differs from every piece.

rows of earrings with scrimshaw carvings from Anchorage Airport in Alaska — Alaska Scrimshaw Earrings

What is scrimshaw?

Scrimshaw is the art of drawing something on ivory. These designs are so unique and interesting and the colors of the scrimshaw range from black to multi-colored. These scrimshaws depict the flora and fauna of Alaska, and some of them depict scenes of how life is in Alaska.

My favorite souvenirs are scrimshaw earrings with a scrimshaw carving of a dog sledding team with mountains in the background. Another favorite of mine is ancient woolly mammoth earrings that I got from Alaska.

Jade Figurines

When you go on an Alaskan cruise, you’ll find that some of the stores onboard the ship sell jade figurines, most shaped like bears, in all shapes and sizes. If you have onboard credit leftover, it’s good to pick up a jade bear to remind you of your trip to Alaska. We did the same on our cruise since we had a bit of onboard credit left to spend even after using the credit for tips and excursions.

Alternatively, if you don’t feel like buying from the cruise ship shop, there are plenty of shops in the Anchorage area that sell jade figurines. You can purchase these from Grizzly’s Gifts.

handmade Alaskan doll made from various furs and material from the Alaska Native Heritage Center — Handmade Alaskan Dolls from the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska

Fur Accessories

Where to get fur accessories: at the Alaska Native Heritage Center’s Gift Shop and Captain Cook’s gift shop.

If you love earrings and other accessories, you can buy them adorned with fur from Alaska. They’re so soft and unique, so it’s not hard to convince yourself to get it. You can buy fur accessories from native artisans online,

Forget-Me-Not Themed Items

The forget-me-not is the state flower of Alaska and is also a state emblem. Lots of souvenir stores sell forget-me-not-themed jewelry items: from necklaces, earrings, and pendants. You can even get forget-me-not tea from Alaska.

Food Items To Buy in Alaska

Want to bring home authentic Alaskan food? Some people fly into Alaska to fill up their suitcase allocation of food that will last them for a few months. Here are the must-buy food items to get in Alaska.

earrings on a tray made from ancient ivory on the right side, and the left side is a picture of ornaments with muskox. Text on top reads What to buy in Alaska: A shopping guide — What to Buy in Alaska: A Shopping Guide

Anything Salmon

Salmon that’s dried, fresh, canned, spreads: anything you would want that’s salmon-related, Alaska’s got it. Alaska is blessed to have a lot of salmon and they’re tasty ones too. You can buy salmon in pretty much every souvenir shop you enter in Alaska.

King Crab

In Kodiak Island, people flock yearly to the Kodiak Crab Festival to celebrate the King Crab and buy as much king crab as they can afford to ship or stuff in their suitcase. The festival started off by marketing the King crabs, and now that it has taken off, everybody wants to try them.

The crabs are weird-looking, considering they come from the deep, but if you see this available while in Anchorage, try it!

Jams, Jellies, and More

I have to admit we went down the jam rabbit hole when we visited Alaska. The berries are fresh and come from the tundra climate in the mountains. If you’re hiking on a mountain path, you can eat these berries

Clothing Items to Buy in Alaska

Are you from the South and underestimated how cold it is in Alaska on your visit? Here are a few clothing items you can get that’s local to the area and easy to find in Anchorage.

a shop with muskox drawings in front and text saying The Qiviut Shop - Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers Co-Operative — Qiviut Shop in Anchorage Alaska

Qiviut – Muskox Wool

I have to admit I had no idea what qivuit was until I stepped foot in Alaska. Qiviut is a special wool that comes from muskox. These animals are only found in the Arctic Circle, and the wool these animals shed during the summer makes for amazing gloves, scarves, or hats. These animals are meant to live in extremely cold environments, and their fur is soft yet warm.

Qivuit is highly sought after yet expensive. The process of collecting the wool from the muskox is labor-intensive and processing the wool into yarn for knitting is also a process. A yarn of wool costs around $110.

You can read more about qiviut and the muskox from our Muskox Farm article when we visited it in Palmer, AK.

Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers Cooperative in Downtown Anchorage

Address: 604 H St, Anchorage, AK 99501

In a little wooden house, a block from the Marriott Hotel is the Oongman Musk Ox Producers Cooperative. This shop sells muskox-related products exclusively.

When I visited the Oomongmak Cooperative, there were a lot of items that were out of stock. Presumably, a lot of their items would’ve been bought during the summer peak, when visitors would descend

mittens, scarves, hats, and wool yarn all hanging on the wall with muskox stuffed animals on the top shelf at the Muskox Farm in Palmer, Alaska. — Handmade Items from Muskox wool and Muskox stuffies at the Muskox Farm in Palmer, Alaska

Where to buy Qiviut in Palmer Alaska

Palmer is 50 minutes north of Anchorage, but if you’re in the area, you can buy some Qiviut from the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer.

This has to be one of the most variety of muskox products I’ve seen in the area. Their prices are a bit cheaper than the cooperative in Anchorage. Their products directly come from the muskox in their farm. You’ll see some tagged with names from the muskox who provided the wool.

Fur Clothing

Where to get fur clothing in Anchorage

Real fur clothing is a bit of an ethical dilemma but you can get them from Anchorage. Be prepared to spend a bit of money for fur coats and other clothing though. These do not run cheap.

The Alaska Fur Company is located in Downtown Anchorage, and it looks like a vintage store full of fur coats and other fur clothing. Even if it’s not within your budget, it’s still worth going and just checking it out. You never know what you’re going to see.

Ultimate Alaska Shopping Guide

Hopefully, this post has helped you to narrow down the items that you’ll want to buy from Alaska. Many thanks to Visit Anchorage, our TBEX Summit hosts, who helped me narrow down some of the places I’ve covered in this list.