Brown Jug Comes Home: Afognak Native Corporation Purchases Alaska Retail Chain

For the first time in twelve years, Brown Jug, a retail sales business headquartered for most of its eighty-three-year history in Alaska, is coming home. Afognak Native Corporation (Afognak) is pleased to announce it has purchased the heritage brand—most recently owned by Alcanna Inc., a publicly traded Canadian Company based out of Edmonton, Alberta. The acquisition, effective June 1, 2020, will bring stability to Afognak’s subsidiary portfolio through diversification, enhanced profitability, and the potential to provide increased job opportunities for shareholders, among other benefits.

Brown Jug operates one warehouse and twenty-one stores in Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla, and Fairbanks and is Alaska’s first and largest retailer of fine wines, spirits, and beer. The retail chain was originally owned by a multigenerational Alaskan family, the O’Neills, who owned and operated the business for more than fifty years before selling to a large Canadian company in 2008. Brown Jug now employs 218 Alaskans and generates more than $80 million in annual revenues.

“Brown Jug was born and raised in Alaska and remains one of the state’s most well-known brands,” says Greg Hambright, president and CEO of Afognak. “The company has built and maintained a solid reputation by providing quality customer service, great selection, and competitive prices while also leading the industry in responsible retail and ensuring social responsibility and community involvement and engagement.” Afognak intends to uphold the Brown Jug reputation as well as use this new platform as an opportunity to be a responsible leader in the community for retail sales.