Great Harvest Bread Co. Opens Wasilla Location

Judging by the fact that the new Wasilla store had completely sold out of bread by 1:30 p.m. on opening day, she might be right.

Larson says she and her husband started the franchise process in 2019. They signed papers in February 2020 and, a month later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down for months. Coming out of the pandemic, it was difficult to find real estate that fit their needs. They waited and waited, she says, and when the building that was formerly the Wasilla Bar, then Salvation Army thrift store, came on the market, she jumped.

But the uphill battle was not yet at its crest, she says. The commercial property, built in the late ‘70s, wasn’t a simple renovation. Ask anyone familiar with to-the-studs overhauls, especially in Alaska—or watch the shop’s transformation slideshow here. In addition to the usual issues that crop up with renovations, there were problems unique to the bakery that caused delays. Winter wind in December blew an air-handling unit off the roof, denting it and requiring repair. The same week, Larson received news that the freezer/cooler that had been specially constructed in the Lower 48 and was on its way to Alaska had been involved in an accident. Cue the insurance hassles, a lengthy cooler rebuild, and other delays that go along with that process.

But Larson says she kept the goal in sight, trusting that all would happen in due time. And it did.

Preparing for Harvest

Great Harvest, a national chain based in Dillon, Montana, prides itself on using quality ingredients—specifically, wheat grown in Montana’s “Golden Triangle” in the north-central region of Big Sky Country where warm, arid summers yield long heads of dense, high-protein wheat. The wheat berries are shipped in buckets to Great Harvest locations coast to coast (Alaska now has three; there are about 200 stores across the country), then milled on site before being turned into bread or other baked goods for optimum freshness.

Larson says it was hard to guess how to prepare for the grand opening—there’s no historical data on expected sales for a grand opening in Wasilla. Her team included two people from Great Harvest Bread Company’s corporate offices, there to train staff and assist in the opening process. The day—and the bread-making process—began at 4:00 a.m., Larson says. Staff bustled throughout the morning and, suddenly, all the bread was gone.

“It must be 5 o’clock,” Larson says she and the crew thought. Nope, it was 1:30 p.m. And since it takes roughly five hours from mix to slice, there wasn’t time for another round.

“We did our best guess,” Larson says. “We’ve sat down and recalculated for tomorrow.”

Speaking from a table in the café on opening day, Larson says she was pleased with how the grand opening had gone. “Far better than we expected,” she says. “It was a great day.”

Great Harvest Bakery Café is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 2301 E Sun Mountain Ave. Unit A.