Open & Shut: C & M Used Books goes out of business, plus a new kombucha spot in Palmer

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, with “Open & Shut” in the subject line.

OPEN

203 Kombucha: This kombucha business opened a brick-and-mortar location earlier this month in Palmer, after owner David Boortz spent about a year wholesaling his product around Alaska.

Boortz has been making kombucha in Alaska since 2017, when he started brewing it out of a cabin he was living in in Sutton. His new retail spot, 203 Kombucha, is located at 105 S. Valley Way, where he makes and serves the fermented beverage.

“I drove by the current spot in Palmer and saw it was for lease and thought, ‘What if we had a kombuchery?’” Boortz said. “I need some more space and I’ve been in Palmer now long enough and I feel like there’s something missing.”

The vision is to make 203 Kombucha into a community space, Boortz said. So far that includes open mic night on Wednesdays, vinyl record night on Thursdays, and plans for a trivia night.

Roscoe’s Soul Food: A downtown Anchorage eatery has expanded with a takeout-only location on the east side of town next to the Cabin Tavern.

Roscoe’s Soul Food has a dine-in restaurant at 120 E. Sixth Ave. The business opened a spot at 240 Muldoon Road in January and has all the offerings of the downtown location — ribs, pulled pork, catfish and more — for to-go orders.

The Sixth Avenue spot is also staying open, said manager Roscoe Wyche III, but a slow economy has had a noticeable impact there.

“Basically what we’re experiencing is a lot of people passing by and not stopping in,” he said. He wanted to open a location where it’s easy for people to stop and grab food as they’re heading out of town.

He also wanted to bring soul food to the east side of town, he said. The new spot is in a small building in the parking lot of the Ace Hardware that’s located at the same address.

Roscoe’s used to serve up its food at the Aviator Hotel, too, but doesn’t anymore, Wyche said.

Family Flea Market: Building damage from the 7.0 Southcentral Alaska earthquake on Nov. 30 forced this family business to relocate from one spot in South Anchorage to another, an owner said.

Family Flea Market’s new location at 12401 Gander St. opened in early January, in a building the business bought in 2016 with an eye on moving in the future. The flea market’s old spot at 12020 Old Seward Highway, where it had been located for six years, is now closed.

“The earthquake hit and that threw our plans for a little while, but at least we had somewhere to move," said Matt Drebert, one of the owners.

The plan for the new location is to launch what will be called the Gander Barn Community Event Center, to promote small businesses. Drebert hopes that might be ready in the spring.

“The flea market is going to be in it, but it’s going to take a back seat,” he said. “Our whole goal is to have a place for families to come have a good time.”

Miso Japanese Restaurant: This eatery opened about a week ago in a spot where Sushi Ya used to be located, at 1111 E. Dimond Blvd.

Kevin Min, the manager, said the owners wanted to bring a new restaurant to South Anchorage, and a busy traffic area at Dimond and Old Seward Highway was appealing. Miso serves sushi dishes and more.

Sushi Ya relocated last year to 3501 Old Seward Highway.

SHUT

C & M Used Books: This used bookstore at 215 E. Fourth Ave. in downtown Anchorage appears to have shut its doors for good.

Big red letters painted in the window of the store read “Going out of business” as of Friday afternoon, and the door was locked. Another sign taped on a door said “Cash only — all books must go!” There was still furniture and shelves full of books inside.

The store’s phone number was not in service when a reporter called Friday.