Springtime business blitz is back

WASILLA — A perennial Palmer springtime business event is on track to return to the downtown in late April.

The sixth annual “Who Let The Girls Out” event April 22-23 features downtown businesses in Palmer in a two-day promotional blitz designed to boost business and showcase local businesses. Numerous downtown Palmer businesses — ranging from clothing exchanges to pizza places — will offer free classes, studio events, sales, and other activities over the course of the event.

This year, the Alaska Railroad plans to run a special train round-trip from Anchorage to Palmer on the event’s second day.

Event organizers sought to add the railroad — the train will come in as far as the Alaska State Fairgrounds — as a way to emphasize both the train’s economic importance and historic connection to Palmer, said organizer Denise Statz.

“When a train goes away from a community, it’s never a good thing,” she said. “It never signals a positive thing. I like to believe this is our effort to help grow an economy in Palmer, to augment the ability of the train to help economic development.”

The Alaska Railroad itself saw an opportunity for synergy, said spokesman Tim Sullivan.

“It’s a great opportunity to work with our communities,” he said. “They (organizers) have an event up there they’ve built a base for that they’ve got an opportunity to promote.”

Tickets for the full train ride cost $110. The train features live on-board music, and departs Anchorage at 11 a.m., and arrives at the fairgrounds about 12:30 p.m., according to the Alaska Railroad website. The return trip leaves Palmer at 7 p.m. and returns to Anchorage about 8:30 p.m.

Organizers are still working to put the final touches on the full schedule, which should be available sometime later this week, Statz said.

The annual showcase kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on April 22 with a 5-kilometer run-walk in downtown Palmer organized by the Valley Women’s Running Team, followed by a fashion show at Klondike Mike’s bar starting at 7:30 p.m. The event also includes an evening of praise and worship at the Alaska Bible College, sponsored by the owner of Humdingers Pizza.

Numerous events take place on Saturday, including regular participants and new businesses, including the introduction of the Bleeding Heart Brewery, which joins the Arkose Brewery in Palmer amid the town’s growing craft beer scene. “We’re a two-brewery community now,” Statz said.

The spring festival grew out as a response to an unusually cold and blustery winter, and started with just 10 participating businesses, Statz said. The event now features more than 60 local businesses, nonprofits, and other community groups. Despite the admittedly girly name, the event is open to the entire public, Statz said.

“This grew out of one particularly miserable winter when the wind blew a screaming gale for weeks, and business was slow and quiet and we had plenty of time to think about what our possibilities were,” she said.

The event isn’t a festival or fair so much as a showcase, said Teresa Roy, owner of Cover Ups, an interior decorating store focusing on vintage decorations. Foot traffic picks up during the event, and residents and visitors flock to stores, Roy said. Business owners often slip out after hours to participate in the events connected with Who Let The Girls Out, Roy said

“For me, I think ‘Who Let the Girls Out’ is an opportunity for people who live in the Valley to come and enjoy Palmer and experience all the diversity we have here,” she said.

A full list of events and businesses is also available on the Who Let The Girls Out Facebook page.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mis-spelled Roy's last name.