All supplies (with the exception of wild game meat and skins, local berries, and firewood) have to come by boat or plane. Golovin has a very small store that sells mostly groceries and occasionally you can find towels, microwaves, gloves, coffee makers and other assorted things. You never know what they will have in stock and if the weather has been bad, they may not have much of anything, so it is not a good idea to count on the local store for necessities. Also, the only milk they sell is canned, powdered, and the long life milk and I am not a big fan of that. The larger the village, the larger the store and sometimes there is even an AC store, like in Unalakleet. In Nome, there is an AC store, a Hanson's, and Nome Traders. Hanson's is part of the Safeway group and AC stands for Alaska Commercial. Nome Traders is locally owned and operated. All three stores sell groceries, clothes, household items, and other assorted odds and ends. AC has the most clothes as it is basically rural Alaska's main grocery and department store. Nome traders is mostly groceries and has more touristy stuff than the other two, while Hanson's is mostly groceries with assorted odds and ends.
Most of my groceries come through the mail... however, I also took several trips to Nome throughout the fall and would use that time to stock up on fresh foods from the local stores there. I also occasionally purchase random food items at our local store - especially eggs which are fragile or junk food which I keep thinking I will stop eating. I think it is also good to support the local store and community. There are actually several online grocery stores, but I used Fred Meyer's this past fall. Just go online and put in your order. They ship your food freight (meaning it does not go through the postal service) and separate everything into either "freeze", "chill", or nothing for dry goods and other stuff. It takes anywhere from 2-5 days to receive -so some produce just isn't worth ordering from them. The prices from Fred Meyer's are close to a large city in the lower 48, though some items are more expensive and then there is shipping - which is about 1/3 of the total purchase.
The stores in Nome are more expensive than anywhere I've been in the lower 48 or even Anchorage -but they too have to ship everything in using boats or planes, so of course they will pass on the cost to the customer. Generally, the items with the greatest cost increase (compared to grocery stores in the lower 48) are the items that are either heavy, fragile, or perishable. In Nome, a quart of milk is around $4.30 and an 18 pack of AA large eggs is around $6. It is strange that the only eggs available are grade AA - you almost never see those in supermarkets on the east coast. When buying from Nome, of course, I have to really pay attention to how I pack the groceries! The weather and where your boxes are put on the plane can really affect the condition they are in when I get them back to Golovin. One of the stores in Nome -Nome Traders- takes phone orders! I call them up and give them my order and my credit card number and they buy my groceries, box them up, and take them to the airline of my choice (Era or Bering Air). I then call the airline and give them my credit card number and they charge about $.60 a pound and ship it straight to Golovin. For produce, milk, and yogurt -this is a great deal!!
All household items, toiletries, and pet supplies are best bought online -though some common things can be found at the stores in Nome -if you are going there anyway. My two main sources for most non-food items are Amazon and Drugstore.com. I have been blessed in finding most of the things I need from Amazon and eligible for "free supersaver shipping"!!!! Otherwise, shipping costs can get crazy!!
Pizza delivery in the bush? Really?!?! I heard about it and just had to try it! There is a pizza place in Nome that makes pretty good pizza - though it isn't cheap - that has free delivery to the villages!! You call them up, order your pizza, pay for it, and tell them what flight you want it on. Meet the plane and you have a pizza!! Of course, if you want it hot, you have to put it in the oven but I never expected to be able to order a pizza living up here. The subway and one of the Chinese restaurants will also prepare a to-go order and get it to the airlines for you (for the price of the food and a $6 cab ride) - but if you really don't want to cook, you don't have to.
