Alesa McHolland, the new co-owner of TK's Mini Mart, formerly known as Alpine Mini Mart, waits to serve customers one week into taking over operations.
Alesa McHolland is having a surreal life moment.
While waiting to receive freight on March 15, the new co-owner of the former Alpine Mini Mart never quite expected to be where she is.
"It's kind of surreal because I never thought anything like this would happen," she said. "I never thought I would have enough assets to do this kind of thing. When you work in Wrangell, there aren't a lot of options for jobs."
On March 8, McHolland and her husband Wayne signed the papers and became the new owners of the establishment, which they renamed TK's Mini Mart.
Before taking over, McHolland worked for the previous owners, Steven and Cori Prunella, for about two years. She worked at the Wrangell Police Department for 10 years before coming to work for the Prunellas. However, before that, she worked for C&E Bradley for five years, the company that owned the mini mart before the Prunellas bought it in 2002.
In the summer of 2022, she said the Prunellas announced their plans to sell the Zimovia Highway business.
"(Wayne) was surprised," after she told him about the plans to sell the business, McHolland said. "All I did was mention they were selling it. I didn't suggest buying it or anything."
Wayne McHolland, the lead operator for the Wrangell water plant, ruminated on the idea of buying it and the couple decided to move forward with the plan.
"We had thought about selling Alpine for about six months but never advertised it," said Cori Prunella. She said after the McHollands expressed interest in purchasing the business, "it moved fast from there."
Other than the name, the only change McHolland said they are planning is to attach the storage area to the main building. Right now, inventory is held in containers across the parking lot from the mini mart. Having an attached storage would make restocking inventory easier.
"So far, that's the only thing we've talked about changing ... to make it easier on our employees," she said.
Along with Alesa McHolland working in the store, two other employees help run things: Avril Rhoades, who has been there almost a year, and Joe Hommel Jr., who has worked there almost three years.
As the summer season approaches, the new owners anticipate they will extend their hours "because it doesn't make sense not to have longer hours when everybody is running around," which will require more employees. "It's a little easier because you get a lot of college students who don't want to be here in the winter," McHolland said.
During the off-season, the average number of customers ranges from 150 to 170 per day. In the summer months, that number can get as high as a few hundred, McHolland said. They see an uptick in traffic for people going out the highway to camp or recreate, so they stop in for supplies, buying everything from one or two snacks to grocery bags full of items. The most popular item, she said, are energy drinks, with all other beverages coming in second.
There is plenty of room to expand inventory, she said, and they welcome suggestions as to what customers would like to see them carry.
Prunella said she will miss the people she would see every day and running the mini mart.
"It was great to build something that you love and put your heart into," she said. "It's definitely been bittersweet to be done, but it's time for new owners to take the reins."
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