Unalaska, AK – Alaska Ship Supply will soon be remodeling and moving into the old AC building next to the Grand Aleutian. The company is still in the planning phase, but they hope to open their doors on May 1, 2009. Alaska Ship Supply general manager Bob Owens said the new store will offer all of the same departments as the old store, such as clothing, food, marine hardware, appliances, and money gram services, but will add some new ones, too, including a home hardware department with a paint counter and a lumber yard.

"We'll have a very nice new d cor, a new environment. People will see a huge difference when they walk in the store," said Owens.

The open floor plan store will have a walk-in cooler produce section, like the old store, and they'll be moving the liquor store into the same building. That means even though they will construct a new building for the auto shop and lumber yard and a new mezzanine for auto parts, space will be tight.

"We're limited with space so we'll have to be very selective with lots of requests that we know are going to come in. We'll try and accommodate what we can."

Though the company will be putting a lot of money into the remodeling, Owens says they will still work to keep their prices competitive. "I guess part of our gamble there is we hope to increase our business. And with an increase of business hopefully we'll be more profitable and we'll be able to afford to do those things."

Owens says part of the reason they took over the AC building was make the business more accessible to the community. "With our current location, people just didn't like to drive all the way out there. It's not the best road in Dutch Harbor."

The Seattle-based company plans on giving back to the community by providing a nice facility with shopping options and continuing to support local nonprofits. The company's bulk grocery section will remain in the current location on Ballyhoo Road for filling boat orders. Most of their current building will be leased to DH Ports to use as office space for the new cold storage facility.