Three bears Alaska.

• Author: Kalytiak, Tracy
• Position: 2010 Alaska's Top 49ers: Still Growing Strong - Raven's Brew Coffee Inc. - Three Bears Alaska, Inc. - Company overview

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[Moving forward for 30 years]

Nate Root made a deal five years ago that put his employer's product, Raven's Brew coffee, on the shelves of a chain of grocery stores in Southcentral Alaska.

Root didn't actually enter one of those Three Bears stores until the following year and was surprised to see it mingled a warehouse-style establishment with conventional retail groceries and general merchandise.

"I was shocked our product was moving at the volume it was moving," Root said. "It didn't fit the format of their store, but they gave it an

opportunity to succeed. They promoted it at eye level. Once they did that, our product did the rest of the work."

PAYING ATTENTION PAYS OFF

That attention to the needs of suppliers and customers and a thorough knowledge of their business and their market are factors that have helped Three Bears Alaska earn the rank of No. 32 in Alaska Business Monthly's annual list of the Top 49 Alaskan-owned and -operated revenue earners in the state.

The business took in revenue of $105.7 million in 2008. The following year, that figure jumped to $111 million. Three Bears employs 293 people in Alaska (with a total of 343 nationally) working in the chain's 40,000- to 60,000-square-foot stores and its corporate headquarters.

"We're not into 100,000- to 150,000-square-foot stores," says Three Bears' President and CEO, Dave Weisz. "We're not like the bigger chains. We want to keep our stores just right."

STEADY EXPANSION

Carr-Gottstein veteran Larry Weisz first launched the business 30 years ago in Tok, after acquiring one of the town's two grocery stores. Initially, the store was known as Gateway Food Center. In 1983, that name changed to Frontier Foods.

The eldest of Weisz's eight children, Dave Weisz grew up in the family business and now runs the grocery chain from its corporate headquarters near Wasilla. Four of his siblings are also involved in the business.

Dave Weisz has served as president since 2006; his father Larry retired in 2008 but still chairs Three Bears' board of directors.

"When my dad went to Tok, the store had frozen meat, no fresh produce," Dave Weisz said. "We decided to try to offer fresh products, learn to cut meat, do our own repairs, change the refrigeration system."

Larry Weisz opened his second store in 1989 in Valdez. That was the first store known as Three Bears. It was also the first of the Three Bears stores to sell warehouse products.

"Larger-size families prefer to shop...