After 28 years, three different storefront locations and more shoplifting losses that Sarah Stucky can recall, The Alaska General Store is closing shop for good.
“It’s kind of an end of an era for my business and I’m sad to be doing it, but I can’t contend with another winter of barely any business,” Stucky said Friday from behind her register, waiting for some passersby to notice the “SALE SALE SALE” sign and step inside.
Stucky, 51, said her Franklin Street shop with Native art, antiques and clothing isn’t financially viable in Juneau anymore. The decision was the culmination of rising crime rates, taxes that counter any profit she manages to make and the decreasing parking options for her customers, she said. This year for the first time it started to seem like things were actually turning around for her, then in May her store was burglarized and she reported to police more than $60,000 worth of merchandise was gone in one night. She said those missing valuables included antique jewelry, diamonds and Tlingit bracelets.
The one saving grace for the tough days when fewer people have stopped by has been Stucky’s basset hound Dot Lollipop, or Dottie for short. Dottie often roams down the block and visits the nearby barbershop or just sits near the General Store’s entryway and helps bring in a few customers. But that companionship is also nearing an end as Dottie, 14, faces health challenges.
“It just seems crazy for me to continue on. I can’t be here without her,” Stucky said, fighting back the tears as her canine companion rested a few feet from the register.
Dottie’s condition isn’t all that’s convinced Stucky to close her doors. She said the City and Borough of Juneau constantly works against her and other small business owners in more ways than one. The newly placed whale statue at the base of the Juneau-Douglas Bridge will drive tourism foot traffic away from downtown “hole in the wall” stores, she said. Stucky also has a $5,000 city sales tax debt that she said accumulated during a rough patch in 2009. She said she’s made regular payments and had hoped that the city would forgive the remaining debt to help a small business out, but the city’s officials’ priorities are geared toward big business opportunities.
Sales Tax Administrator Clinton Singletary confirmed that Stucky is consistently making payments as part of a signed confession of a debt owed, but he said he could not say how much she owes. He also said it is not city policy to remove or reduce debts.
“I can’t afford to run my business here anymore,” she said. “How am I going to be protected, and my goods protected you know, to pay all that money when (police) didn’t show up during the burglary? Basically everything that had value was taken from me, and so I’m scared to invest my money in Juneau anymore,” she said.
In 2015, Juneau did see a spike in burglaries. That year there were 169 burglaries and that number usually hovers around 100, according to the Juneau Police Department’s 2015 annual report. Halfway into this year, Juneau has been on track to surpass last year’s figure with 113 burglaries reported as of June 30. Stucky said JPD simply isn’t reacting fast enough to the crime downtown and it isn’t just her business that’s coming to end. She’s leaving Juneau all together.
“I’m scared every time I leave my house that my house is going to get broken into, then I leave the store and I’m afraid my store’s going to get broken into again,” she said. It’s caused her too much mental anxiety, she said.
JPD spokesman Lt. David Campbell said the department takes everyone’s concerns seriously and that of all the areas in Juneau, downtown is the area most covered by police with two dedicated patrol officers in addition to the regular patrol division.
“I understand there can be concerns, but downtown gets more services than anywhere else,” Campbell said.
As more challenges face the community with rising crime rates, JPD will try to meet needs and increase patrols in certain areas as needed, Campbell said.
Stucky said she can’t wait and see anymore if things will work out or get better. The bad moments are starting to outweigh the good ones that she’s created with her loyal shoppers. To make the move easier, most items in the store will be marked down 50 or 40 percent until she closes the doors for good on Oct. 31. She plans to move to Anchorage to be near her mother and spend more time with Dottie. Although she’s short several stolen goods, she will take the good memories with her.
“I know the faces of Juneau. The people are the special thing for me,” she said.
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
