CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Those looking to represent the Mountain State’s beauty can now order clothes, bags, accessories, and more with the push of a button, as West Virginia State Parks has officially launched an official online merchandise store.
State DNR Director Brett McMillion and West Virginia State Parks made the joint announcement earlier this week during Governor Jim Justice’s media briefing. The state DNR teamed up with the state Department of Tourism and the West Virginia Association of Rehabilitation Facilities to produce the website.
McMillion says this will bring in customers from within the state as well as visitors who missed a chance to buy merchandise on past trips.
“This online marketplace will give our guests and residents of West Virginia that opportunity to buy that ‘Almost Heaven” branded merchandise and the state park logo merchandise from the comfort of their home,” McMillion said. “If they had been out to a park and failed to buy something and wish they had, the opportunity is there. If they’ve never visited our area and see these great products, they can get them.”
The online store has nine categories of merchandise including: adult clothing, kid’s clothing, hats & beanies, bags, drinkware, stickers, holiday, accessories, and gift cards.
McMillion says the state’s gift ship revenue has been steadily increasing, and an easy-access online store will only help.
“I really believe that this is going to have a significant impact on our gift shop revenue since we now have this online opportunity,” McMillion said. “For example, in Calander year October 2024, our gift shop revenue was at $4.5 million. Eight years prior, our revenue was only at $2.1 million, so a significant bump there.”
McMillion also says that the state parks could soon bring in millions more with the new store.
“I think this online marketplace is going to have an enormous benefit to the revenue we have,” McMillion said. “I think we’re going to be topping the $6-7 million number soon with this benefit we have now.”
You can visit the online store at shopwvstateparks.com