ULU Factory The

Regular gift shop, nothing really special apart from glimpse of workers working on the knives.
If you really love and adore the Ulu Knife, you should absolutely visit. Otherwise, you can safely skip this and won’t miss much.
The other perk of this place is perhaps that the knives are cheaper. Many other touristy place/​gift shops sells this too, and I recall seeing them charging $ 10 or more at other places, so if you are buying many of these knives, swing by!
Probably a 10−15mins unlike what the many tourist book which estimated a 30 – 45 minute visit.
There is a mini centerpiece which showcase artifacts of past ulu knives and how it have evolved over time.
Other than the knives, they stock pretty much the same gift shop items as the other shops around town.

I found this kind of boring. There weren’t any actual tours. Which was a disappointment. Though, you could see some dudes through the gift shop windows (which view the factory area) working on making some knives. But it was interesting for like 30 seconds. And the gift shop staff literally followed us around the store like they were expecting us to steal something. Which absolutely made me change my mind about purchasing anything from here. Other than a small section of ulu knives, the rest of the store is devoted to random, over-​priced tourist stuff. I’m inclined to say this is a place to skip.

On my last day in Anchorage I took the trolley to the Ulu factory store as a diversion. Big props for the driver on May 25^th, very friendly knowledgeable and helpful to all passengers and really went out of her way. Not so much for tips — just a very genuinely nice person. The store itself was interesting, although the factory was closed because of holiday weekend

Fun place to visit on your vacation to or through Anchorage! Cute items, friendly people!

Tourist trap? Quite possibly, but you should check it out since it’s the legendary knife of AK. I asked someone at a sporting goods store if people used them, and he said it was the most effective way to skin a very large animal. You’ll see them in use in the northern regions, but most normal folks don’t use them.
But you should check it out to see the Ulus.
The ulus here do seem higher quality than those cheap made in china ones at the gift shops.
Look for the factory seconds rack. They’re usually the same with tiny defects on them. You won’t notice the mars and nicks unless you’re an expert and know what you’re looking for. You’ll save almost 50% off the retail.
Go check out the fishermen behind the store and you’ll see salmon fishermen in action. Pretty cool indeed.

If you’re in the mood to do some touristy things, I would consider doing the following: going to the weekend downtown market, walk down the hill to check out the Ulu factory, then gaze over the bridge at the fisherman in Ship Creek. Ulu’s don’t really excite me too much. It’s an interesting piece of unique Alaskan life, but it just seems so commercialized, I dunno. They sell $ 3 ulu’s (which aren’t worth the packaging it’s in, upto the über expensive, which will do the job.

I stopped in the factory after viewing the Fur Rondy snow sculpture competition. After a week and a half in Anchorage I had already decided that Ulus are kind of silly. To me the shape lends it self to skinning wild game and dicing herbs. I don’t do either as much as I would like. The fact that Ulus are everywhere caused me to survey some Anchorage residents. The owners of the B&B where I was staying do not own an Ulu and they do not know anyone who uses them. Two women I was volunteering with at Iditarod headquarters use them. One of the woman loves her’s and said all of her friends use them.
I didn’t go in because I wanted an Ulu, I went in because I didn’t think my Anchorage experience would be complete without going in. Since it was Saturday afternoon the place was pretty crowded. One employee was demonstrating how to use an Ulu with a wooden bowl. He said by turning the bowl while you chop you don’t have to pay attention to what you are doing. Let’s all buy big scary round knives and use them blindfolded!
I didn’t buy an Ulu, but I was very pleased to see they carried the full range of Rondy pins. Fur Rondy was almost over and the official store was out of antler pins. I picked up one up with the Rondy collectible spoon. This was my first collectible spoon. I am officially an old lady.

Sooo…
You might be wondering: «What, pray tell, the heck is an ‘ULU’?»
Why, it’s «The Legendary Knife of the Arctic» of course!
An ulu (pronounced oo-​loo) is pretty much the most popular knife used by the Native people of Alaska from it’s origin back in the day of 2500 BC to this date. It’s used for skinning, filleting, and all around cutting.
You can see them being made here and even buy some to take home. However don’t plan on packing it in your carry-​on. Some people had them confiscated while we were at the airport. Are they dumb or just plain stupid?
«Hey Mr. Security! Lemme take this knife, that could easily turn into a weapon, with me on the plane! You won’t let me bring in a 6oz bottle of lotion, but surely a sharply rounded blade should be peachy!»
Wth is wrong with people nowadays…
Anyhoo, you have two options:
1. Purchase your ulu, pack it in your luggage and CHECK IT IN when you are at the airport.
or
2. Purchase your ulu at the Ulu Factory and they can ship it for you.
I chose option #2 and had it shipped back to me in CA and it only cost $ 2.33 for shipping! I realized later that after exploring more of the downtown area that these particular knives being manufactured here are not that great of quality. I guess they exist and thrive off of the touristness factor. Oh well. We’ll see how long it lasts in a couple weeks. Maybe I can get a salad or two out of it…
They also sell a lot of other touristy crap– I mean, souvenirs like postcards, bumper stickers, and magnets. There’s also snacks if you got hungry from all this knife shopping. They offer chips made by the Alaskan Potato Chip Company, some irresistible caribou/​venison jerky, and some jam and crackers.
So being the sucker that I am, I stocked up on some of that jerky cuz… c’mon now! How can you leave Alaska without having a taste of some of that venison jerky?
.