I saw the blurb but can't read it behind the pay wall. Looks like after 53 years Great Northern Guns is closing. Say what you want about it but it was an Anchorage institution for years and use to be a place where you could get great deals on used guns. Thats the place I got my first rifle ever as a 19 year old here in 1994 as a GI (Chinese SKS Paratrooper, that I wish I still had). Sad to see the place close up but business models change as do the times.

Bought a few guns from there.
Always nice and friendly to me an my kids.

Bought my youngest girls .22 from there last fall.

I read the story in ADN.  Sad to me.  The Wife bought me a .500 S&W, part of their Alaskan Backpacker series, from them.  She said they were very nice to deal with.

That sucks.  I spent more than a few thousand bucks there over the years, until I got married.  I'll miss it, even though I have not been back for 4 years now.  Hope Jeff finds a good place to work.

A lot of rare collections went up for sale there.  

I miss the barrel of beater rifles by the door.

Bought more than my fair share of old S&W revolvers there. It's sad to see them closing up shop.

I didn’t realize this was happening. Went by there today and it’s all closed up.  

Bummer. I spent many tens of thousands of dollars there over the years.  During several ammo panics over the years I could still buy a case of good 5.56 ammo for standard prices.  

They will be missed.  I hope yag is doing ok.

No idea where he was going, Joe was loyal to his guys but I don't know the chances of Yog getting on at any local shops of he is going to stay in the industry

Wow….  That sucks.  The first time I went stepped foot in there was back in 1987 when I bought my first 1911A1, a Springfield Armory, from them when I was still in the Army.  Years later and being out of the Army for years, I was able to get a transfer back to Anchorage with my job in the early 2000s.  I spent many thousands of dollars in that place till I finally retired and moved back to Washington State in 2015.  That place was a slice of Anchorage history.  I got along with Yog well and I hope he finds a new place to sell guns cuz once you understood him, he was funny as Hell!!

I think the fist time I saw Yog in Anchorage was around 1988/1989.  I think he was working in a much smaller gun shop on Spenard between Arctic and Benson.

Sadly, I was hoping to shop buy to look when I fly up there in June.

I heard that Gun Runners bought out the remaining inventory and hired one of the longtime employees to keep it open as a second location.

I drove through anchorage about 3 weeks ago I think and saw they were working on the building didnt hear the rumor of gun runner buying them out. I wonder who would stay and the 2nd location then form the old GNG staff ?

Great Northern Guns: The owners of this Midtown Anchorage landmark shut its doors in October after more than 50 years in business.
But a longtime employee at the store and an Anchorage gun shop owner who was buying up some of the leftover inventory teamed up to keep it alive, employees said.

Jeff Nowak, an employee for 24 years, agreed to manage the shop after Niels Green, the owner of Gun Runners at 601 E. Northern Lights Blvd., agreed to purchase it. The store’s former owners, Joe Andreis and Clair Dalton, who are in their 80s, worked with Green to keep the store alive, Nowak said.
Great Northern Guns, off Tudor Road at 4425 Wright St., acquired a new firearm license from the federal government. It reopened in December, Nowak said.
“I didn’t want to see the place go away and neither did a lot of people,” Nowak said. “So he agreed to buy store. I agreed to work for him and manage it.”
The store was known in part for its mascot, Nellie the cat, who graced the shop. She’s currently retired and living at an employee’s house, Nowak said.

Will stop in when I am able.


Will miss the cat.

Jeff running the place is a good thing, I always liked him. Place is in great hands then

Yeah, I've liked Jeff since he was at that pawnshop on Tudor.  He always stocked something C&R I wanted.

He had gotten a lot of about 50 RHKP (Royal Hong Kong Police) marked model 10s.  When I went in a couple days later after deciding to buy one, they were all gone.

Went by the shop, looks like they upgraded lights inside and brought in a ton of inventory and ammo. Talked to Jeff, put my name on the list to have him look for a frankenluger or broom handle that is serviceable but ugly. It was good to see them open

I have an appointment in Anchorage today, so I will run by there and visit them. I was in there 3 weeks before they closed, and that’s when I learned they were supposed to be closing. They were just a short drive from the office, so when not working from home, I spent a few lunch breaks in there. My job went permanent work from home in February, so I don’t get to Anchorage near as often now.