RadioShack on the Harbor

Rare turnkey Valdez opportunity: profitable mixed-use commercial property plus going-concern business. ~6,300 sf with an active RadioShack-authorized electronics and firearms store downstairs and a 3BR/2BA owner's residence upstairs (harbor and Chugach views). General Commercial zoning permits short-term rental. Real estate plus business. Financials under NDA.

Land The lot occupies 6,342 square feet (approximately 0.15 acre) in the heart of downtown Valdez. The parcel is fully improved and efficiently configured: the two-story, roughly 6,300 sf mixed-use building anchors the site, and the balance of the lot is developed as 8 on-site, asphalt-paved parking spaces serving both retail customers and the residential unit upstairs. The site is served by municipal water and sewer and is zoned General Commercial, which supports the current electronics and firearms retail use on the ground floor and permits use of the second-floor 3-bedroom, 2-bath residence as a short-term rental.

Street frontage runs along Chitina Avenue, with pedestrian access directly from the public sidewalk into the retail showroom and dedicated vehicle access to the on-site parking. The downtown location places the parcel within easy walking distance of Valdez’s small-boat harbor, restaurants, banks, the post office, the public library, and Providence Valdez Medical Center. Surrounding parcels are a mix of commercial, retail, and lodging uses consistent with the General Commercial designation and the downtown commercial corridor’s character.

Improvements The property at 203 Chitina Avenue is improved with a single, integrated, two-story mixed-use commercial building totaling approximately 6,300 square feet on a 6,342 sf lot. The structure was built in 1983 and underwent a major renovation in 1991.

Ground floor (approximately 3,940 sf). The ground level is configured for active commercial use. Roughly 2,940 sf is finished retail showroom currently operating as an authorized RadioShack electronics dealer and firearms retailer, with direct customer entry from the Chitina Avenue sidewalk, display fixtures and shelving in place, point-of-sale and security systems installed, and exterior signage along the front facade. Adjoining the showroom is approximately 1,000 sf of warehouse, receiving, and secure-storage space, configured to support retail back-of-house operations and firearms-specific secure storage. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing services for the building are routed through this floor.

Second floor (approximately 1,940 sf). The second story is built out as a self-contained, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom owner’s residence with private access. The unit looks out over Port Valdez harbor and the Chugach Mountains. The residence is fully separated from the commercial space below, suitable for owner-occupied use or, under the General Commercial zoning, use as a short-term rental.

Site improvements. The balance of the lot is developed as a 8-space, asphalt-paved, on-site parking area serving both customers and the upstairs residence. Exterior signage along Chitina Avenue provides street-level visibility. The site has no fencing, no agricultural improvements, no outbuildings or shops, and no separate storage structures; none would be appropriate to the downtown commercial setting.

Recreation Few places in Alaska or the Lower 48 pack as much outdoor recreation into so small a footprint as Valdez. Step out of town and within minutes you can be casting for halibut, lingcod, rockfish, or one of five species of Pacific salmon in the protected waters of Prince William Sound. Valdez hosts some of the largest sportfishing derbies in the state, including the Silver Salmon Derby and the Halibut Derby. Sea kayakers and boaters paddle out past Shoup Bay to the calving face of Columbia Glacier, one of the largest tidewater glaciers in North America, while day cruisers run Prince William Sound for orca, humpback whales, sea otters, puffins, and Steller sea lions.

In winter the recreation only intensifies. Thompson Pass averages more than 500 inches of snow per year, making it one of the snowiest places in North America and a global magnet for heli-ski operators, backcountry skiers, and snowboarders; it has hosted the World Extreme Skiing Championships and remains a fixture on the international big-mountain circuit. Ice climbers ascend the frozen ribbons of Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls in Keystone Canyon, snowmachiners thread the high country, and the long, dark winters deliver some of the best Northern Lights viewing in the state.

Hikers tackle the historic Mineral Creek trail, the Goat Trail, and the alpine bowls above town. Hunters take moose, black bear, mountain goat, and waterfowl within the surrounding game-management unit, with Sitka blacktail deer a short boat ride away. Add river rafting, mountain biking, glacier flights, photography, and the Valdez Fly-In and Air Show each May, and Valdez delivers a recreational menu most small Alaska towns can only dream of.

General Operations Two distinct, recession-resistant revenue streams operate under one roof: a full-line consumer electronics store (components, accessories, audio, computing, special-order) and a firearms retail and FFL transfer business serving Valdez and the surrounding Prince William Sound region. The store is a long-standing community fixture with established walk-in traffic, repeat clientele, and strong local recognition built over decades.

Established profitable operation; the business currently runs in the black

Authorized RadioShack dealer, Valdez’s recognized destination for consumer electronics, with full brand recognition, signage, and an established dealer relationship (assignment subject to brand-owner approval)

Two complementary revenue categories: electronics + firearms

Transferable Federal Firearms License (subject to ATF approval); current owner will train the buyer and provide a transition period of [length, e.g., 30–60 days]

Loyal local customer base anchored by Valdez’s pipeline, port, fishing, and contractor economies

Inventory, FF&E, POS, security systems, and vendor accounts included in the sale

Detailed financial information (revenue, owner’s discretionary earnings, and full P&L) is available to qualified buyers upon execution of a non-disclosure agreement.

Region & Climate Valdez sits at the head of Port Valdez, a deep, ice-free fjord at the eastern edge of Prince William Sound on Alaska’s south-central coast, ringed by 5,000-foot peaks of the Chugach Mountains and anchored economically by the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the Valdez Marine Terminal. The climate is maritime subarctic and surprisingly mild for the latitude. Summers are cool and long-daylight, with highs typically in the 60s, ideal for halibut and salmon fishing, sea kayaking past tidewater glaciers, glacier tours of Columbia Glacier, and hiking the historic Mineral Creek and Goat trails. Winters bring snow more reliably than almost anywhere in North America: the town averages roughly 300 inches at sea level, and Thompson Pass just outside town regularly tops 500 inches, drawing heli-skiers, backcountry skiers, snowmachiners, and ice climbers from around the world to its big-mountain terrain and the frozen ribbons of Keystone Canyon. Annual precipitation runs near 65 inches, most of it falling as winter snow. The combination of a stable industrial economy, world-class year-round recreation, and dramatic alpine-meets-ocean scenery is what gives Valdez its unusual blend of small-town livability and global outdoor draw.

History The shores of Prince William Sound were home for thousands of years to Alutiiq and Eyak peoples, and the name “Valdez” was applied to the bay by Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo in 1790, who named it for Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán. The modern townsite began as a port of entry during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, when ships unloaded would-be miners onto the beach to attempt the brutal Valdez Glacier Trail north to the goldfields. The route claimed many lives but, once improved as the Richardson Trail and later the Richardson Highway, established Valdez’s enduring identity as the only ice-free, year-round port linking interior Alaska to tidewater.

On March 27, 1964, the magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake devastated the original Valdez town site, which sat on unstable glacial outwash. An undersea landslide killed 32 people at the harbor, and damage was so severe that the entire town was eventually relocated about four miles west onto more stable ground. The current downtown grid, where 203 Chitina Avenue sits today, was largely platted and built between 1967 and the early 1970s and represents one of the few fully relocated municipalities in United States history.

The next chapter was the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Construction of the pipeline and the Valdez Marine Terminal between 1974 and 1977 gave the local economy a stable industrial anchor; the first tanker loaded with North Slope crude departed Valdez in August 1977. The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound ushered in modern oil-spill-response infrastructure that remains a major local employer today.

203 Chitina Avenue itself was built in 1983 during the peak pipeline era and underwent a major renovation in 1991, placing it firmly within the modern post-relocation downtown commercial core. The property has served as a downtown retail fixture ever since.

Location Valdez sits at the head of Port Valdez, a deep-water, ice-free fjord on the eastern edge of Prince William Sound on Alaska’s south-central coast. The community of approximately 4,000 year-round residents is the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) and home to the Valdez Marine Terminal, the largest crude-oil shipping port in the United States. The property at 203 Chitina Avenue is in the heart of downtown Valdez, within walking distance of the small-boat harbor, restaurants, banks, the post office, Providence Valdez Medical Center, the public library, Prince William Sound College, and Valdez K-12 schools. A full-service Safeway, hardware stores, fuel, and seasonal cruise-ship and ferry terminals are all minutes away.

Air access is straightforward. Valdez Pioneer Field (VDZ) sits about three and a half miles from downtown and offers commuter service to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC). The flight is roughly 40 minutes. Ted Stevens Anchorage International is the regional hub for the state, with direct service to Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Honolulu, and a number of seasonal mainline destinations.

By road, Valdez is approximately 305 miles from Anchorage. The drive runs east from Anchorage on the Glenn Highway (AK-1) through the Matanuska Valley, past Matanuska Glacier, Sheep Mountain, and Eureka Summit, to Glennallen (about 190 miles, three and a half to four hours). From Glennallen, the Richardson Highway (AK-4) heads south for another 115 miles through Copper Center, over Thompson Pass, and down through the cliff-walled spectacle of Keystone Canyon into Valdez. The full drive takes about five and a half to six hours in good conditions and is widely considered one of the most scenic stretches of paved highway in North America.

Valdez is also reachable by the Alaska Marine Highway System, with ferry service across Prince William Sound from Whittier and Cordova providing a working freight and passenger link to the rest of coastal Alaska. Fairbanks is approximately 365 miles north via the continuation of the Richardson Highway, a six-and-a-half to seven-hour drive.