Jeans are hot among cold-climate shoppers

One team found their jerseys to be somewhat see-through and created an emergency run on sports bras.

A coach came in for some towels and pillows that someone apparently forgot to pack.

Most Arctic Winter Games shoppers plying the aisles of Gottschalks on Wednesday, however, were not unlike the day-to-day Kenai Peninsula folks. They were seeking name-brand clothing at a reasonable price.

“One gal from Canada bought all Columbia and Woolrich,” said store operations manager Denise Anderson.

“One little guy — 16 years old — from Russia bought two bottles of $50 fragrances,” Anderson said.

“One was Chanel No. 5, a women’s fragrance, and one was Platinum for Men, also a Chanel product,” she said.

“Everything,” was Dayna Thompson’s response when asked what she was looking for.

“I definitely like cosmetics,” said the 15-year-old indoor soccer player from Team Yukon.

Teammate Emily Mackinnon, 16, said she sold Arctic raffle ticket books in her hometown of Whitehorse to fund her travel expenses. With the money saved, she now has shopping money.

“In all of Whitehorse we have two clothing stores — nothing like this,” Thompson said. “I wish we had this store.”

Saami cross-country skier Tonje Haanaes-Rensberg, 17, who said she already has won gold in the sprint and 5 kilometer events, said she was “shopping for everything” on her one free day between races.

“We live just like everybody else (with) stores, malls and everything. We live in Sweden, in Norway,” she said.

“Everything here is cheaper than home — jeans, T-shirts, everything,” Haanaes-Rensberg said.

She said she saved money specifically for shopping in Alaska and was happy to see some things costing only one-half what they cost in Sweden.

Her teammate, Nadia Kielatis, 15, who finished 11th in the 5 kilometer race Monday, said she took Wednesday off to shop and already found some jeans.

Somewhat disappointed that she was unable to find shoes she liked, she turned her attention to cosmetics.

“Normally prices in Greenland are higher,” said Kim Godtfredsen, a member of Greenland’s mission staff.

When asked if he was shopping for anything in particular at Gottschalks, he said, “I have three kids and a wife at home — something special from Alaska.”

Godtfredsen also said, “Tell people, I’m the guy who played with Hobo Jim.”

Earlier in the week, he said he went to listen to Alaska’s balladeer and joined in on guitar.

“This is my first time to Alaska ... not my last,” he said.

Eufinia Kreutzmann, also a Greenland mission staff member, said she was shopping for “mostly clothing and watches.”

“I really like watches. I have three, but last year, I lost two in California, Santa Barbara,” she said.

Godtfredsen is a member of Greenland’s cross-country mission staff and Kreutzmann serves on the volleyball mission staff.

Greenland won the silver ulu in junior male cross-country sprints.

Alexan Kravchenko, a cross-country skier on Russian Team Yamal, spent nearly an hour searching for American-made jeans.

“In Russia ... no American jeans ... made in China and Turkey,” he said with a thick Russian accent.

“In America, jeans $40. In Russia, $60,” he said.

Gottschalks cashier Sandy Larson said shuttle buses have been dropping off athletes at the mall on a regular schedule every half hour.

She said some of the hottest-selling items have been women’s jeans, men’s Quiksilver T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, and added the Games shoppers “are bringing lots of money.”