Open & Shut: A new Goodwill and kombucha taproom are on the way

This is an installment of an occasional series in the Anchorage Daily News taking a quick look at the comings and goings of businesses in Southcentral Alaska. If you know of a business opening or closing in the area, send a note to reporter Annie Zak at azak@adn.com.

OPEN

Goodwill: Anchorage is getting a second Goodwill store and donation center location at 8931 Old Seward Hwy., next to Duluth Trading Co.

The store will have its grand opening on Sept. 27, at 7 a.m., said spokeswoman Libby Schafermeyer. The new location will have 55 full-time employees and occupy 33,000 square feet of space.

The spot will also have a job connections office, which will offer free resume assistance, interview skills coaching and referrals to local employers based on job-seekers' goals and experience.

Goodwill opened its first Alaska retail store in 2016. That one's at 3838 Old Seward Hwy., and there's also a job connections location in downtown Anchorage.

Uncle Leroy's Coffee: A new coffee shop opened at the end of July at 701 W. 36th Ave., connected to Sweet Caribou, a macaron and lunch spot.

Uncle Leroy's Coffee has operated out of a 1968 school bus for a few years around Anchorage. The new shop is the brick-and-mortar version.

The 36th Avenue location is a coffee bar and small-batch roastery where the coffee is roasted in-house, according to the Uncle Leroy's website.

Anchorage Wine House: A new location of Anchorage Wine House is opening in a strip mall at 3020 Minnesota Drive, where a Denali Federal Credit Union used to be.

The goal is for the new spot to be open by the end of September, said Michael McVittie, the wine manager for Anchorage Wine House. The business has two other locations in town, at 1320 Huffman Park Dr. and 8841 Jewel Lake Rd.

The shop will be a full-service liquor store and also have a growler bar, but the focus is on fine wine, McVittie said.

Zip Kombucha: A kombucha taproom is preparing to open at 3404 Arctic Blvd.

Zip Kombucha is finalizing its permitting with the city, said owner Jessie Janes, but he hopes to have the 650-square-foot taproom opened next weekend. In addition to kombucha, the space also has a beer and wine license and will serve food.

Janes has brewed and sold kombucha before, but the business shut down last year because of "some partner issues" and a divorce, Janes said. This will be Zip Kombucha's first brick-and-mortar location.

Tin Roof: This vegan food truck opened in July, and you can find it around Anchorage in different locations (check the truck's Facebook page to see where it'll be on a given day).

Owner Ronnie Henson moved to Alaska from Virginia last year. He took a unique approach to deciding what kind of business to open.

"I decided … I'm gonna walk around the street, and the first person I talk to is gonna give me the idea to go with," Henson said. The first person he talked to was a doctor who told him a vegan diet had helped her patients, he said.

"She said, 'What we need here is a fully vegan restaurant.' I said, OK cool, I don't have the money for that, but I could do a food truck," Henson said.

Tin Roof serves sandwiches, wraps, smoothies and protein shakes. It will be around town this month before it heads to San Diego at the beginning of October, through wintertime, Henson said. Then the truck will come back in April.

SHUT

Wing It: This wings restaurant at 1041 E. 76th Ave. "will be closed until further notice," according to a July post on its Facebook page. The doors were locked Thursday afternoon.

Bargain Hunters Thrift Store: This shop at 7521 Old Seward Hwy. appears to have closed. It looked empty inside Thursday afternoon and the doors were locked. The phone number listed on the sign didn't work when a reporter called it.