A successful trio: three unique businesses thrive and provide tourism opportunities at a small complex in Anchorage.

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In addition to a sound business plan, adequate capital and hard work, innovative ideas can make the difference between good and great. Three Anchorage businesses, the recipients of such ideas, are reinventing themselves and thriving.

Alaska Wild Berry Products, Sourdough Mining Co. and the Peanut Farm Sports Bar and Grill are located in a small complex along International Airport Road in Anchorage. All three are Alaska-owned companies that have prospered and expanded over the past few years due to some astute changes made by the business owners, and some welcomed changes made in Anchorage.

Over the past 20 years, Anchorage, home base for these three businesses, has seen a number of improvements to the city that have made life there more attractive. These include a new library, civic center, sports arena and performing arts center. The subsequent increase in recreational activities has resulted in an increase in tourism and visitors, all of whom are potential customers of the three businesses. And the customers have found those businesses.

"You can get to us from downtown in seven minutes by car," said Peter Eden, owner of Alaska Wild Berry Products Inc. "With traffic," he added, "it may take 10 minutes."

ALASKA WILD BERRY PRODUCTS

According to Eden, Alaska Wild Berry Products was founded in the 1950s by a husband and wife team. Eden is the third owner of Wild Berry, having purchased it in 1975.

"The business was up for sale," explained Eden. "It was mail order, unique and different. We believed that a lot could be done with it, growing it, and its mail order and retail sales."

In 1975, Wild Berry was a small, retail shop with a catalog that advertised homemade jams, jellies and some syrup. There were gift packs, too.

"We added three partners. It was a rough start," added Eden. "We didn't know what we were doing and there were internal problems with the partnership. We got rid of the partners, one by one."

Changes also were made to the catalog. It was expanded to include cheeses, was more diverse, with additional gift packs and some meats. The chocolates came about in the 1980s.

"We imported raw chocolate for Wild Berry Coated Chocolate. The berries included salmon berries from Kodiak," said Eden. "In 1994, we moved to Anchorage and into the 5th Avenue Mall downtown, as well as the International Airport Road site."

With the move to the International Airport Road site came the larger kitchen in the '90s, the development of the park, a chocolate fall in 1994, and the village and theatre in 2000.

"(The waterfall) is a 20-foot chocolate fall," added Eden, "with candy-making and viewing in the factory. There's also a movie we made for the theatre. It is titled 'Alaska, The Land Beyond.' And we also have reindeer to feed and to take pictures of."

With all this to offer visitors, Eden would like Wild Berry Park to be thought of as a destination for tourists, as well as for Alaskans.

"There's a lot to see at Wild Berry with the creek and salmon, the park, the gift shop, as well as at our neighbors, Sourdough Mining and the Peanut Farm. We see the three businesses as a place for tours to stop and visit. It's not just a place to pass some time while you wait for your flight. It's a place for families, a group of friends, someone wanting to pass a few hours in an interesting place. We complement one another, a person can have a meal, watch a game, enjoy the park."

Its Web site is www.alaskawildberry products.com.

SOURDOUGH MINING CO.

Sourdough Mining Co., which shares the mall area with Wild Berry and the Peanut Farm, opened on Mother's Day in 1984, using a gold-mining theme.

"All of us had some gold-mining experience," said Mike Johnson, operating owner of Sourdough. "And we thought up the theme."

As Johnson and his business associates created Sourdough, they wanted visitors "to feel as though they are walking into the past. Alaska has history and we would like our guests to experience that."

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To that end, the family restaurant is situated in the replica of an old mill house with a 32-foot ceiling. It has an original fan system to circulate the air, like the mill house of the Independence Gold Mine of the early 1900s.

"When we thought up the theme, we decided to use some of the materials of a real gold mine, like the shaft which we use as an entrance. It's like Hatcher Pass, owned by the Park Service, with one of the first directional shafts. The mine was closed due to too much water filling up the shafts."

Sourdough also has something very popular with kids, an original ore cart made into a self-serve ice cream center.

"The kids can go and make their own ice cream sundae," said Johnson.

Eating is only one aspect of Sourdough. Families and individuals can walk the Nature Trail and see reindeer and, perhaps, moose, beaver or fox, too. In the evening visitors can enjoy Dusty Sourdough, an Alaskan author and song writer who performs two shows a night in the Tent City Theatre, entertaining adults and children with tales of his adventures.

"Every successful business," said Johnson, "needs someone who is people- and family oriented. That's Dusty Sourdough. For more than 20 years, we have had a huge tourist program. We've used Dusty in all our advertising and on our Web site."

They also have kept up with the times with a catalog, a Web presence and free delivery throughout the city.

"We've been successful and have a lot of repeat customers who appreciate our food, quality and service," he said. "And, we cater to kids with a separate kids' menu. People, families can come to Sourdough and spend hours enjoying the experience."

Its Web site is www.sourdough mining.com.

THE PEANUT FARM

The Peanut Farm Sports Bar and Grill opened in 1960 as a small, comfortable place frequented by Anchorage residents looking for a homey atmosphere. Today it is a premier sports bar with comfortable, non-smoking venues as well as an outdoor deck for smokers.

They take the title of sports bar seriously. According to Gary McCutcheon, general manager of the Peanut Farm, they went around the state to visit other sports bars to see what was offered and what customers wanted.

"What we found," said McCutcheon, "is that we wanted to be the place that never closes early, has a full menu until last call, a full bar, and is the place customers have been searching for to get together after a long, hard day. We have seven gigantic flat TV screens, five different satellite dishes, every sports package we can find, and booths outfitted with televisions. If we can't find the sports package, no one can."

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The Peanut Farm also strives to be a comfortable place where everybody knows your name.

"You can come here dressed up or down and feel comfortable. Even in a city of 300,000 people we make it a point to recognize our steady customers and to know what they usually want. We make it a point to get to know our customers. The Peanut Farm used to be the place where people met up before deciding where to go. We want the Peanut Farm to be that place, that destination for single people and for families."

To accomplish that, the Peanut Farm has pool tables, dart boards, a dance floor, and live entertainment on both sides of the barn, as well as a new addition behind the bar.

"I do like to walk in and feel so much choice and ambience," said McCutcheon. "With the indoor and the outdoor decks, the window-doors that can open up creating a solarium, there's real choice. People want to come here and stay here. That's exactly what we want."

But the Peanut Bar hasn't forgotten families.

"We're very child-friendly," explained McCutcheon. "The kids' menu is on the front cover of the menu."

Its Web site is www.peanutfarmbar andgrill.com.