ABOUT US

Proprietor’s Background:

Chartreuse’s owner is Sheri Olesen. Sheri came to North Pole, AK when she was 4 years old, graduated from North Pole High School in 1998 and lived in the area most of her adult life. Although Sheri is a self taught artist, she has taken classes at UAF in painting, drawing, pottery, two dimension designs, and some business classes. Sheri’s upbringing in a home where she learned that doing things yourself ,when you can, helps you have more for less provided the frugal training that she continues to apply by recycling and using green products. Sheri started pursuing her dream of owning her own business in 2008. After finding a location, and 3 months of hard work remodeling, Chartreuse opened.


CHARTREUSE’S First Year Highlights:

Chartreuse had its grand opening on September 4, 2009 with the support of several local businesses. Bobby’s Downtown donated a beautifully catered meal, Sipping Streams Tea Co. donated a variety of teas, and Isaiah from the 907 Group created a video of the entire evening (link here) using a combination of hand held video and time lap photography.

Since Sheri wanted to do something that would help draw attention to the store and have a positive affect on the community, she teamed up with Keith Darkchild owner of ETZ Video Store and Dark Child Photography to build a haunted house in October and raised $1,500 for the Breast Cancer Detection Center.

In an effort to bring more attention to downtown Fairbanks, Sheri and friends, Isaiah and Michael teamed up in November and December to produce a winter solstice ball. The Golden Gala celebrated 50 years of Alaska’s Statehood and took place at the Morris Thompson Center. Again the downtown stores came together to provide the food and entertainment (Bobby’s Downtown, La Velles Bristro and Barney and Friends) Additionally, there were acts from local groups including Tundra Caravan, Lathrop Ballroom Dancers, and Dance Theater of Fairbanks.

January, February, and March were a bit of a struggle because business slowed down and the building was drafty and cold. In March the building came under new ownership and better things were on the way.

Working to draw more attention to downtown Fairbanks, Sheri teamed up with the 907 Group and S Salon for another fundraiser for the Interior Alaska Cancer Association. An outdoor concert was held behind the Big I. Several bands played along with the feature band, Sweating Honey. This event raised $1200 for IACA while bringing a new event to Downtown Fairbanks.

August brought some needed improvements to both the inside and outside of the building. Local artists, Brianna Regan and Mark Leon along with Sheri teamed up to paint a mural on the west side of Chartreuse. The mural of a gigantic peacock turned out to be amazing and received and overwhelming amount of positive response from the community.

On September 3rd Chartreuse celebrated one year of business. Community turnout was fantastic! Sheri hosted two different bands with River City Cafe and Espresso catering all the delicious food.

Chartreuse continues to provide a unique shopping experience for the Fairbanks area as it transitions into its second year of operation. Sheri stays involved with the community and is currently working on developing an art club for teenagers. Sheri is always working to build a more vibrant downtown and stronger community.