Northern Sales Co. of Alaska Inc.: Southeast wholesale suppliers.

• Author: Musgrove, Michael
• Position: The new 49ers - Company Profile

Using modern business techniques to provide wholesale service, this Juneau company is positioned to compete with national chains.

In 1961, Alaska was still considered unsettled, uncivilized. For most state residents, it was impossible to procure some of the finer things life has to offer. For that matter, most necessities were also scarce.

Southeast Alaska had it worse than the rest of the state. Because the main point of distribution for the state was in Anchorage, Southeast tended to be isolated, cut off from the mainland by the Gulf of Alaska and treacherous coastal mountain terrain.

To meet the demand for wholesale goods of a slowly increasing population during the early 1960s, Northern Sales was founded by entrepreneur Glenn Leach and incorporated in Juneau. At the time, Northern Sales was a small operation distributing to local merchants only. In 1968, Leach was able to obtain exclusive tobacco distribution to the Juneau area, and business began to grow.

From 1968 to 1988, Northern Sales expanded throughout southeast Alaska. During the early days of the business, Tom Satre, now company president, was hired to work in the warehouse. Over the years, with hard work and a lot of effort, Satre advanced to his current position, accumulated company stock and gained ownership of Northern Sales.

In 1973, Satre and his wife Kathy and Tom Shornak founded Sitka North Sales. By 1977, a branch of the original Juneau-based company was established in Ketchikan.

Growing a Business

In 1983, the Satres and Shornak sold the Sitka operation to Michael and Michal Beth Elerding of Ketchikan. Michael was a branch manager for First Bank, managing accounts for Sitka North, when he heard about the possibility of buying the distributing company.

Both the Elerdings and Satres figured a merger between the two companies in 1988 would provide a larger network and streamline Southeast distribution of wholesale items and commercial products. The new company was called Northern Sales Co. of Alaska Inc.

"Originally they (the Satres) wanted to form a partnership," says Elerding. "We just weren't ready for that at the time. So we bought the business with an agreement not to compete for five years. After a few years, both companies wanted to expand. By selling the same products in the same places, we would be bloodying ourselves instead of working together from a stronger position. We gained synergy by merging."

Following the merger, an important step was accomplished in...