Unique boutique

WASILLA — From books to baby clothes, a new Wasilla business has your gift list covered. Shannon Sanderson opened Loving Radiance Gift Boutique in March, a business that promotes and features local products. We sat down with the owner to find out a little about her business.

Frontiersman: What products or services do you offer?

Shannon Sanderson: We’re a gift shop and we have a variety of handmade products and a small selection of wholesale products that we sell. Handmade products vary from wooden pens to pottery to handmade baby items. Basically, we rent space to a variety of local crafters so they can get their products out and market them. We also do craft classes so the vendors that make their own products can come into the back and teach other people in the community how to do them. The big focus is with the homeschoolers mostly, because they’re lacking that opportunity in the public. But over the summer we do aim at all of the kids and we do a lot of classes that are open to adults.

Frontiersman: Why did you decide to have an Alaska-based business?

Sanderson: I started out making my own products. I croquet, and I very quickly realized that there was no way I could keep up with production. The amount of people that wanted handcrafted items was so much larger than the amount of handcrafted items I could knock out by myself. I started working on the side at another craft shop, and while I was there a met a variety of people that make their own stuff and found that there really isn’t anywhere to sell the products. It’s very difficult to get your product in any of the major stores locally because they’re focused on selling quickly. So, working with those other business owners that were making their own products I saw two things. I saw a customer base that really wanted the handmade products, but couldn’t find them. The other thing I saw was crafters who wanted to make their products available year-round, but couldn’t possibly afford to rent a building to do that.

Frontiersman: How do you decide what to sell?

Sanderson: There are two parts to it. One is quality, and for me another factor is the person I’m dealing with. First of all, the product has to be something that is unique and valuable. If somebody just walked out of their house, threw a few things together and tossed them down on the counter, then (that product is) probably not unique and valuable. They might be unique, but they’re not valuable. The other thing is that the person making (the products) has to be interested in participating in the dynamic we have going here. I think of it as a sort-of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s community. We work as a family. So, if somebody wants to be a vendor they need to be willing to be part of that family.

Frontiersman: Where are you from and why did you decide to open a business in Wasilla?

Sanderson: I was raised in Anchorage. When I turned 18 I decided to move to Wasilla to get out of Anchorage and I’ve lived in Wasilla ever since. I decided to open a business because I was raising my kids as a stay-at-home mom. I crochet, and the crocheting started taking over the house. When we filled four dressers my husband said, “You do beautiful work, but you’re going to have to do something with it.” So, I started looking for a place I could place my product. I put it at Home Sweet Home and it went well, but they decided to close in January. When they decided to close that opened the door, so we jumped on it.

Frontiersman: What sets your business apart from other similar businesses?

Sanderson: We’re more personally involved. We have a very unique line of products. Many of them can’t be found anywhere else because the vendors don’t have them anywhere else. On top of that, we all work as a team so at any given time you may be talking to one of those people who makes those products. Our customers have the ability to actually meet the people who make the products they’re buying.

Name: Loving Radiance Gift Boutique

Owner: Shannon Sanderson

Address: 1051 East Bogard Road No. 6

Telephone: (907) 373-2228

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Frontiersman: From what you’ve described, it really seems to be a community-based business. Why is that so important to you?

Sanderson: It starts with my kids, because it takes a community to raise a family. I really loathe how the community seems to be so broken apart. You see people driving down the road rushing past each other and they don’t even bother to say hello anymore. We walk to work every day and everyone we pass we’re saying hello to and we’re talking to them. We know our neighbors, and that’s the kind of relationships that really makes a safe environment for kids, and it makes a happy environment for everybody. I think it makes life function better.

Contact Chris Gillow at chris.gillow@frontiersman.com or 352-2284.