After 24 years in downtown Anchorage, business prepares to close its doors

Anchorage, Alaska (KTUU) – While work on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage is still well underway, a handful of businesses in the building set to be redeveloped by Peach Holdings LLC are preparing to close their doors.

Jana Hayenga, owner of Cabin Fever and Quilted Raven – who has worked on the site for 24 years – said it was a necessary step in the Block 41 redevelopment.

“We would have loved to stay, but it wasn’t just — it was impossible,” Heingar said. “They’re building a new building and that building has to be demolished. I have to move, that’s part of the change.”

Hayenga has been an Anchorage business owner for 42 years, owning and operating memorable businesses such as Fly Paper, Classic Toys and Once Upon a Time Bookstore. She’s seen the industry’s ups and downs, but relishes the opportunity to move her store across the street. The owners of Side Street Espresso are retiring and Haenga plans to take over the lease.

“We’ll be renting out their property and renovating it from November, hoping to move the two businesses — Cabin Fever and Quilted Raven — there in a smaller, reimagined form,” Hayenga said.

A $200 million investment in a downtown project caused a stir among residents who wanted to save the marquee of the historic Fourth Avenue Theater, but demolition began in early August to remove the landmark.

Hayenga said her current lease is about to expire and the LLC has fulfilled the agreement. The new space has shrunk by about 1,000 square feet, so business owners are currently trying to sell inventory before moving.

Cabin Fever and Quilted Raven will close in October. 1. Hope to reopen across the street next February.

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