Travel Michigan Rolls Out Official Pure Michigan Merchandise

Just in time for cooler temperatures, Michigan residents and visitors can don an official Pure Michigan sweatshirt and other apparel items to spread the news and pride of living and vacationing in the Great Lakes State.

Proceeds from the sales will support the Pure Michigan advertising campaign, which has been cancelled for the fall due to budget cuts.

The multiple-award winning Pure Michigan advertising campaign that has been seen coast-to-coast on cable television networks is credited with positioning michigan.org as the country's most popular state tourism Web site.

"We have had hundreds of requests for Pure Michigan logo merchandise since the launch of the initial campaign in 2006," said George Zimmermann, vice president of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "The primary goal of the merchandise program is to expand the reach of the Pure Michigan brand."

Battle Creek-based Turnkey Merchandise Programs will run the merchandise program. The merchandise line includes sweatshirts, T-shirts, golf shirts, hats, umbrellas, travel mugs, golf balls and more. Apparel sizes range from infants to adults. Gift cards are also available.

Zimmermann said that "over the last year we have worked to create an outstanding line of merchandise -- all made in the U.S.A. -- with TMP as our retail and wholesale fulfillment supplier. A portion of the sales will be earmarked to support the Pure Michigan advertising campaign. We know the sales income won't solve our long-range funding challenge, but every dollar helps."

Pure Michigan merchandise is available for purchase at http://michigan.org. All orders totaling more than $50 will receive free shipping through Oct. 18. Online orders can be paid by major credit cards.

Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is the State of Michigan's official agency for the promotion of tourism. Travel Michigan markets the state's tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For Michigan travel news and updates, go to michigan.org .

More about TMP at www.tmpcompany.com.

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