OUR COMPANY
The Donatello Family founded the business in 1950 on a few simple principles: give the customer good advice, fair prices and great customer service. Today, we have a 10,000-square-foot retail store featuring great pet, garden, and home products and gifts. We also have another 70,000 square feet of warehouse and manufacturing facilities. We are here to help you with all of your pet care and garden needs!
Alaska Mill Feed and Garden Center is staffed by friendly, knowledgeable team members who enjoy interacting with customers through the many events and workshops held at the store. We get to know our customers and their pets, and we are proud to offer you everything for your pets and plants!
OUR HISTORY
Alaska Mill & Feed has had many names over the years. Originally called Don’s Chemical, our company was started in 1950 by Don Donatello. Don graduated from M.I.T. as a chemical engineer. After college, he joined the U.S. Army and was sent to the Aleutians during World War II. After the war, Don returned to Anchorage where he met a local girl, got married, and stayed in Alaska. Mr. Donatello stayed in Alaska after the War and started a small family business at home making bleach cleaners and waxes. He supplied the local school district and private companies with his products.
In 1958, Don acquired the land where Alaska Mill & Feed currently stands with the intention of developing a rendering plant to make tallow for soap. The rendering plant provided a good supply of meat meal. Rather than ship that to Seattle he decided to expand and built a feed mill in 1964 to use the tallow and the meat meal in the animal feeds. That same year, 1965, he was named the U.S. Small Businessman of the Year. President Lynden Johnson presented Don with the award.
Over the decades, we have continued to grow and evolve to fill a need within Alaska. In 1965, the company added to our profile the name Alaska Mill & Feed. Then during the late 1970’s a fertilizer blending plant, and a farm and garden retail operation were added. In the 1990’s we opened up our wholesale distribution business under Alaska Garden & Pet Supply. Despite all the name changes, many of our original customers still refer to us or the products that we manufacture as “Don’s”.
Alaska Garden & Pet Supply currently operates a garden and pet wholesale distribution business; manufacturing facilities for animal feed, fertilizer, ice melt, wild bird seed; and the Alaska Mill & Feed retail store. The Company’s strong emphasis on customer service, quality products (many of which are made in Alaska by Alaska Garden & Pet Supply), and competitive prices have helped cultivate the family-owned business from a very small beginning in one man’s garage to a large, local company that employs over sixty people. We are proud to serve the entire State of Alaska and to be trusted by pet and garden lovers for over 60 years.