Juneau Drug clerk Brenda Lamas looks out the business' window decorated for Halloween on Monday. The store is one of over 50 downtown businesses welcoming trick-or-treaters on Oct. 31 from 2 to 6 p.m.

Juneau Drug clerk Brenda Lamas looks out the business' window decorated for Halloween on Monday. The store is one of over 50 downtown businesses welcoming trick-or-treaters on Oct. 31 from 2 to 6 p.m.

50 Juneau businesses bring Halloween to their shops

Neighborhoods aren’t the only place kids can trick-or-treat this Halloween.

The downtown corridor, in fact, is looking like the place to be, for kids looking for a surefire way to load up on treats.

More than 50 businesses downtown will be welcoming trick-or-treaters this year, armed with candy and other treats and knickknacks at the door.

Last year was the first year the businesses downtown coordinated to make Halloween happen for trick-or-treaters, and after such a huge success, they had to do it again this year, said Kindred Post owner Christy NaMee Eriksen.

“I don’t think that anybody, myself included, expected what was an enormous turnout last year,” Eriksen said, saying some business owners ran out of candy. “I think estimates had it around 2,000 people.”

Eriksen is the one who came up with the idea last year. She said she took her son, dressed as Darth Vadar, out trick-or-treating in the downtown business corridor in 2014 and was disappointed to find that they were the only ones, and that no one was passing out candy.

“I was like why? Why don’t people come downtown? And that’s kind of where the seed as planted,” she explained.

In 2015, she went door-to-door and asked neighboring businesses if they would hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, and they obliged.

“They kind of humored me,” Eriksen said.

But the reception was huge, with tons of costumed kids and parents parading around downtown, filling up their plastic, orange pumpkins with candy.

This year, she said businesses were eager to take part in the newfound tradition. She said she ran into several other business owners at Costco, stocking up on candy to make sure there’s enough.

“We are better prepared this year,” she laughed.

Eriksen noted that it’s not about businesses making sales or trying to get customers in their stores — it’s just about community spirit and bringing people together.

“I love my neighborhood, and I love family time, and I love treats. So why not?”

Trick-or-treating downtown is taking place from 2-6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 31. Trick-or-treaters can look for orange balloons and a “Trick-or-Treating Here” sign on the doors of participating businesses.

Here’s a list of all of the participating businesses this year, thus far:

Seward Street:

Capital Copy (South Seward, next to City Hall)

Shoefly

The Rookery Cafe

Rainy Retreat Books

Lisa Davidson’s Boutique

Wells Fargo

Subway

Nana’s Attic

Downtown Dames

Art Sutch Photography

Canvas Arts

Pie in the Sky

Sequence AK

GCI

Northwind Architects

Little Tokyo

V’s Cellar Door

The Coconut Thai Cuisine

Urban Eskimo

Pretty Please

 

Front Street:

Triangle Club (outside)

Hearthside Books

The Jewel Box

Annie Kaill’s

Trickster Company

Alaska Democrats

Alaska Robotics

Sealaska Heritage

Juneau Drug

Heritage Cafe

Sketch Studio (behind Kenny’s, entrance in parking lot)

 

Franklin Street:

Red Dog Mercantile

Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot

Alaskan Fudge Co.

The Senate Building

Bear’s Lair

Juneau Artist Gallery

Chef Stefs

La Boheme

Seaside Yarns

Fiddlehead & Ferns

Bustin’ Out Boutique

Aurora Projekt

The Alaskan Hotel

El Sombrero

Mt Juneau Trading Post

Kindred Post

Midnight Sun Gifts

Rockwell

Island Sisters

Saffron

Foggy Mountain

Heritage Cafe

Baranof Hotel

 

Second Street:

Panhandle Provisions

In Bocca al Lupo

Silverbow Inn

Bauer/Clifton Interiors

Lemon Tree Cafe

 

Fourth Street:

Rainbow Foods

 

Marine Way:

The Taqueria

For more information, contact Kindred Post at 523-5053 or hello@kindredpost.com.

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