This Alaskan man is making a 14-hour boat trip to Costco every week to supply his small city with groceries amid the pandemic

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by many_splendored
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(CNN) Now that's one helluva Costco run.

A grocer in a remote Alaskan region that's only accessible by boat or plane is going above and beyond to keep his small city fed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Toshua Parker, owner of Icy Strait Wholesale in Gustavus, has been making a weekly boat trip with his staff to Juneau, the state's capital 50 miles away, to restock on essential food and supplies at Costco. It takes them about 14 hours to complete the journey on a 96 feet long converted military landing craft.

Toshua Parker and his wife, Cassia Parker, who run Icy Strait Wholesale in Gustavus, Alaska.

Gustavus is a coastal community that borders Glacier Bay National Park. For the city's 450 residents, the only place to buy groceries is ToshCo, the locals' nickname for Parker's store.

Parker usually has food and supplies shipped from Costco to his store aboard the state's ferry system, but it's no longer running to Gustavus because of the pandemic, as well as damage caused to the city's dock by severe storms.

Wook-Wizard on May 16th, 2020 at 22:10 UTC »

Well yeah, he owns the only grocery store in town so he kinda has to.

RedditSkippy on May 16th, 2020 at 21:46 UTC »

The title is slightly misleading. He’s stocking his store via Costco. It’s not like he’s running a food pantry.

Sounds like the store has a boat dock? That would be one heck of a Costco.

Slimjuggalo2002 on May 16th, 2020 at 21:36 UTC »

14 hours... Only a few hours longer than my usual trip to Costco