“America’s Attic”-Alaska Pickers to close its doors after 10 years in Valley

For years, just under the Palmer Water Tower, folks from all around Alaska and beyond have stopped in to Alaska Pickers to peruse antiques, furniture, memorabilia, and other interesting finds that tell Alaska’s story.

“It’s literally America’s Attic,” says Alaska Picker owner Kelly Turney.

He, along with his wife Becky, have been the heart and soul of Alaska Pickers for 10 years in the Mat-Su Valley. But now, they are closing the doors to the much-beloved Palmer fixture as they get ready to head to the lower 48 to retire, be closer to family, and be in a central location so they can travel, go adventuring, and keep enjoying life.

“We made it through a 10-year run, through COVID, through all sorts of other things. I’ve had an amazing staff that have been so great,” Turney said.

Alaska Pickers has ventured all over the state seeking out antiques, vintage and one of a kind items to re-purpose and resell. They have gone from Dutch Harbor to Delta Junction, bringing back historical books, photos, early commercial fishing items, vintage gas pumps and signage from places like Hope and great Alaskan, and Matanuska.

While it may seem as if Alaska Pickers has always been at its current location, the business actually started much smaller than what it eventually grew into the business.

“I’d been going to flea markets since I was a kid, but when I met my wife, we’d go yardsaling on the weekends. Then I found myself selling to other dealers,” Turney said.

His wife suggested that since they weren’t having any trouble finding and selling items that maybe he should try a little store, and 50 square feet, grew to 150, then 250, before running out of space. They were selling their inventory, enough to pay the rent.

“After leaving the Palmer Police Department, and with some leaps of faith, it turned into what the community and shoppers know and love today,” he fondly says.

They moved into their current building in 2017 with plenty of space, then decided to share space with Bleeding Heart Brewery. Having the brewery within the shop is a unique find in and of itself.

“Where else can you grab a beer and shop? It’s probably the only place like it in the state of Alaska, and makes it super unique,” Turney said.

The Brewery will take over the building when Alaska Pickers shuts its doors for good.

Turney has been an integral part of the community outside of Alaska Pickers, picking up projects over the years, whether it’s the tower lights or staging the Underground Tours, or the various historical societies.

“When we find certain things that really belong in certain museums, we donate those things.”

Items have been donated to Anchorage, Haines, and Cordova museums, to name a few.

More than picking, his fondest memory has been the community.

“Just the amount of community involvement, the things we’ve been able to do, and the partnerships and collaborations we’ve been able to do-those have been the best because they’ve brought the community together and that’s really important,” Turney said.

For him, it wasn’t about how much money could be made off of his items, but that some things just belong somewhere else, to continue telling the story, and the surprises along the way.

Surprises, like finding a Bob Ross original painting in Delta Junction that a gentleman had bought at a yard sale 21 years ago in Anchorage, which landed in Turney’s hands, and was quickly sold to someone in Indiana.

“We’ve had some great adventures,” he says. “In 2016, we were the first people to go out to Adak, had the salvage rights and ended up bringing two 40-foot containers back. We’ve had some really good access to people and places, met some amazing people over the years. People who had families that moved here during the Gold Rush and ended up settling here, people who came up after the War, came up in the 1950’s before Alaska became a state, or just drove up the AL-Can.”

Indeed, Turney sees a story in the items he finds.

“Since the 1880s, people have been coming to Alaska to seek their fortune, bringing everything that was important to them to Alaska. If they went bust, their belongings stayed here and they went home. Other people came up here and made their fortune, and they left their stuff here. So everything is here, you just have to go find it,” he says.

Turney says the decision to close has nothing to do with lack of business or lack of finds. Having adapted to COVID, finding different ways to do things, and being its busiest since reopening last year, it was time to retire. They had originally planned to close in December, but because things have been going so well, he extended it until now. In fact, he and his wife still go picking, and will go after something if it something truly unique, because you never know what is out there.

When asked why not sell his lucrative business to someone else, Turney points to the number of businesses currently for sale in the Mat-Su Valley that have yet to be bought. But more than the risky real-estate market, it seems personal to him:

“We built this from the ground up from nothing, and when I leave, if I sold it to whoever, my name will still be attached to it, so if they don’t give the same customer service, the same care to the community, the same quality of items coming in here, my name will reflect on that, whether I’m here or not, so I’d rather take what I’ve built on close on my own terms.”

He says he is only taking a handful of items from his shop, and many items currently in the shop have already been sold, such as the scoreboard, which will be going to the Palmer Little League, and the lighted arrow that leads to the Brewery, which will in fact remain with the Brewery. There are plans to carry on Alaska Pickers as an e-Bay store starting in the fall.

Turney is very grateful and thankful to the community support through the last 10 years.

“Through everything, every day I get to see new faces and old faces, so I appreciate all of the stories they share, the families that come in here,” he reflects, “Some people simply come in during their 30 minute lunch break just to browse, they come here. That’s the biggest compliment because time is the only commodity you have and how you spend it is your choice. Someone coming in to spend time here is the ultimate compliment.”

Turney hints at some surprises to come and plans to go out with a bang, and while not divulging everything planned, he did mention some crowd sourcing to replace lights for the Palmer Tower destroyed in the windstorm in January, and perhaps a final Underground tour. And he did drop this little nugget-there will be a final auction, held live and online, May 21-22 at Alaska Pickers.

Alaska Pickers is open Wednesdays-Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can visit the Alaska Pickers Facebook page for updates.