Local ‘Ground Zero’ of coffee cart Culture is on the move

After three solid decades at the intersection of Parks Highway and Boundary Street, sisters Kristena Shaw and Karena Forster are preparing for their final day of business in the iconic drive-through. A family business which began in 1994, shifting to 24/7 for the recent half of those three decades: clocking over 131,000 consecutive hours since 2010 alone.

More precisely, Mocha Moose was an offshoot of the existing family business, begun by their parents Ben and Rena Harrell. Country Junction was a boutique style gift shop which anchored the red cedar building near the clock tower. They attribute the concept to their mother, who ran the gift shop while her husband worked the Slope, running heavy equipment. “The original cart was over there,” said Kristena, gesturing towards the center of the parking lot. Our mom picked up the original trailer at a yard sale for a few hundred dollars,” building a frame & hauling water from the nearby MapCo gas station, now Holiday. By the time Ben returned from his two-week hitch, they had a new side hustle – in spite of his objections. The women both recall his disbelief at Rena’s plan, insisting, “No one will ever pay three dollars for a cup of coffee!” There were two other drive-thru espresso stands at the time, according to Kristena and Karena, and there are three dozen in a five mile radius now – but none have sustained the sands of time, or the waves of cars and trucks for nearly as long as Mocha Moose.

Now solidly in its third generation of the Harrell family, Kristena attributes her own perseverance largely to that supportive framework of her family. Their niece Suzanne runs tirelessly between the roastery and the shop, meeting Costco deliveries and supplying the stand around the clock. A ten gallon bucket of ground beans lasts only two days — brewed, whipped, sweetened, and sent out the window to waiting patrons, at times stacked a half dozen vehicles deep on each side of the tiny trailer.

Having buried both of their parents over the past ten years, Shaw, Forster and their brother Justin sense the magnitude of entrepreneurship anew. Not just the bustling business or their loyal customers, but ‘the girls’. They employ fifteen young women, some of whom return after stints down South, eager to land back on their feet and inside the cozy hut. The plywood floors are burnished to a nearly marble sheen by an untold parade of steps, preparing drinks and warm goodies for eager customers.

This robust hospitality runs through their veins, with their parents having come to Alaska from just outside La Grande, Oregon where they owned a roadhouse style diner in the 1970s. For over seven years the Mocha Moose Cafe welcomed guests at the base of Lucille Street, with the family all pitching in for that similar feel. A full range of breakfast platters, signature drinks, deli sandwiches, and baked goods filled the case each day. Their signature ‘Mooseachino’ was a staple at both locations, with its origins in the Yakutat beginnings of the Harrells’ Alaskan story. ‘Our mother had to prep all of her ingredients in bulk, and mix up giant quantities whenever they received supplies by plane or barge, sustaining themselves and their camp for weeks at a time.

‘One thing I hope our community will recall about my parents is how driven they were by a love of people,’ offered Karena. ‘They showed up to the Iditarod restart, town festivals, fun runs, all of it — passing out coffee and food, no charge just to keep people happy. It was never about the money.’

Wasilla continues to drive the Matanuska Susitna Borough’s growth, literally and figuratively. With weekday commuters estimated between 28,000 and 35,000, Mocha Moose has been well-suited to capture a range of that traffic. Taxi drivers, semis, law enforcement, late-night airport runners, early morning gym rats, harried homeschooling mothers, all converge in the same tight spot for the familiar offerings. While they have seen trends in drinks, food, and marketing shift with the commercial winds, they’ve resolved to carry out the mission as efficiently, warmly, and unpretentiously as their parents did before them. They lavish praise on each worker, attributing half their success to the nightshift gal’s dedication over the years. “Wasilla Police Department will always check on us, they’ve been incredible.” Curiously, back in the day, the overnight staff was an outgrowth of security concerns, leading the Harrells to extend their business hours in order to prevent not just their own shop, but surrounding businesses and their landlord’s property from being tampered with. “We just kept getting robbed! In those days it was more of a grown man or middle-aged women job, so it made total sense to keep it staffed.’

As for pervasive crime, Mocha Moose was already well into its 24/7/365 groove in 2012 when barista Samantha Koenig was taken by force out of a Tudor Road shop in Anchorage by serial killer Israel Keyes. It would be his final murder, and one that shook the sensibilities of Alaskans. Ben & Rena’s daughters were not only undeterred, they posted a sign in a cheery handwritten font, informing anyone who might be sizing them up as targets, “Our Baristas Carry”. This signature confidence is evident in both women. Their bond with one another has been fortified by the fresh grief of losing their father following a massive stroke in the Fall of 2024. Both youthful enough to still need their parents, they seem to be surveying the landscape and sighing deeply to find themselves entirely in charge. While they’ve long ago mastered the day-to-day logistics of the retail food business and could probably do it in their sleep, they find the demands of the algorithm a bit much. Karena is perhaps the more eager to innovate, with Kristena as the steadying eye behind every move. When asked who is more like their mother, who began Mocha Moose with a distinct vision, needing no affirmation from others – it’s Karena, they both immediately agree. She’s well-balanced by winsome Kristena, who gestures to her girls and how proud she is of each milestone that needed coverage for a shift or a season: college, baby showers, vacation, health crises, family hardships, they’ve linked arms and hearts to get through every bit of it – this bond, she wears like a gentle crown.

Aside from their overlapping lives, the nitty gritty of running a 24/7 food business is a uniquely-demanding schedule. Modifications to their physical stand have had to be deferred and can now be tackled between the closure on April 30 and re-opening. Maybe visiting the industry shows and expos like their parents used to in the ‘90s. More whimsical ideas quickly give way to the reality this sustains their family economically, and must keep running in order to employ others. Many coffee carts are more slick or more commercial, but none have roots in the core of Wasilla quite like this.

Both women exude classic small town practicality when it comes to vagrants, tweakers, flashers, and evangelists, each making memorable yet predictable appearances at their window over the years. They were once excoriated for their original logo, a cartoonish Moose wearing bloomers, lipstick, and displaying full antlers. “Transgression against the natural order! You have a cross-dresser on your sign and are promoting this to children!” a man insisted as he passed through. The logo’s origin is dubious, either drawn by an eccentric homeless man or tucked away from a vintage menu her parents had saved. They’ve recently updated it, paring it down to clean lines and a modern palette, but that wild moose still reigns.

Whatever antics or threats they make take in stride, they are still reduced to awestruck giggling at the mention of a certain hockey mom, longtime weekly patron of the shop, and the ensuing media frenzy surrounding her: Sarah Palin. Karena jumps up and down, pointing out the window where paparazzi were posted up months after John McCain announced Palin’s selection as his vice presidential running mate in 2016. “They were from Singapore, India Times, New York Times, it was like, still going on for a year afterwards!”

No one has cherished the view of this passing parade of small town Wasilla quite like the girls who have seen it through their coffee cart windows for thirty years. Parallel to their sentiment is the awareness that this era has come to a close. Wasilla’s comprehensive plan includes an overhaul of Main Street and its adjoining corridors, which will funnel traffic down Knik in a one-way fashion. According to Shaw, drive-through businesses will no longer be permitted in the core block they occupy, unless perhaps granted retroactively.

As for their next act, Kristena and Karena are invigorated. They know the winds of change mean a different view is upon them, and are relying on their Christian faith and family pluck. Municipal chatter and platting is one thing, but they recite what they know their mother did before committing to a spot: ‘she parked [at a prospective location] and counted cars. You can gather real numbers in thirty minutes. Do that a few times and you know what’s up,’ shrugged Karena.

Mocha Moose landlord Randall Miller declined repeated requests for comment.