Our Story Told By Another...
Independent bookstore, cafe proves popular in Wasilla
By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce
WASILLA - On a summer's day on a bluff with a great view of the Chugach Mountains, about a dozen people are browsing for books in the wide, sunlit aisles. Others linger over coffee in the adjacent cafe, some with an eye to Internet activity on their laptops.
Welcome to the Pandemonium Booksellers and cafe, a new independent bookstore and espresso shop that caters to coffee and pastry lovers, readers of all ages and most especially the upward of 4,000 students being home schooled in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.
Meet home schooling mom Shannon Cullip, a partner with her husband, Leny, and educator Rex Weltz in the independent little bookshop and cafe that has proven wildly popular since it opened in early June.
They have a good selection, said Sharon Balough, a medical assistant from nearby Meadow Lakes, who was browsing with her two young daughters. Balough, who plans to home school, said she found the offerings both interesting and creative.
While Balough perused the education materials, her daughters darted about the children's section, exploring a playhouse where parents can sit and read to their children. They finally settled down at a set of old-fashioned wooden school desks to look at picture books.
The Cullips, who have home schooled their four children - two of whom will go to public high school this fall - said their initial idea was to offer home schooling parents a single source for the myriad educational supplies they need.
In addition to a special section of the store devoted to home school materials, Pandemonium will offer a catalog featuring some 35,000 products and teacher resource items for parents instructing their children at home.
Everything from pencil sharpeners to globes, said Shannon Cullip.
The focus will be on home school and professional education products, said Weltz, who will work with Shannon to offer guidance on purchases for home school use.
It's name notwithstanding, calm prevails at Pandemonium, thanks in no little part to an enormous amount of planning.
Prior to opening, the storeowners participated in curriculum fairs in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Soldotna, and as a result are already attracting shoppers coming from Anchorage and Fairbanks, as well as the Valley, to browse and buy material.
One educator said it was nice to be able to look at the products, Weltz said.
While home and some public school supplies are its cachet, the shop also caters to readers of all subject matter, from best sellers to classics, fiction and non-fiction.
Shannon, a self-proclaimed history buff, was charged with handpicking the book selection.
I thought that I over-ordered, but we sold half of our inventory in the first week, she said. It was good and nerve racking at the same time.
Leny, whose prior business experience was in real estate and the mortgage industry, handles the business side, while his partners concentrate on educational aspects.
Equal attention is given to curriculum, general book and miscellaneous merchandise, and the cafe, which is attracting the public and commercial groups, such as Business Networking International.
It's a great little bookstore, said Bill Browne, a contractor whose BNI chapter holds its weekly business meetings at Pandemonium. I've been there just shopping for books when our meeting lets out. The staff is great, and it's nice to see a bookstore like that that is not a chain. It's very thoughtfully put together.
Shop offerings also include chocolate, music CDs, picture frames, note cards, magazines and signature coffee mugs and water bottles, plus coffee by the pound.
After considering a lot of coffee beans, the shop settled on Zoka, an award-winning Seattle roaster. Zoka's roasting uses no nitrogen in the processing, which adds life to the flavor, Shannon said. Key baristas were sent to Zoka in Seattle for training.
A selection of teas was also ordered through Zoka, and Pandemonium considered offerings from several bakers for its showcase of cheesecake, deep-dish pies and other baked goods. A major supplier is North Star Bakery on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.
Also on the menu are milkshakes, frappes, smoothies and Italian sodas. And soon to come, said Shannon, will be soups, salads and panini - those toasted Italian sandwiches filled with meat, cheese and grilled vegetables.
