Mill Creek MetroParks debuts new merchandise featuring park logo

By Jordyn Grzelewski | July 25, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

Products proclaim Love for Mill Creek

YOUNGSTOWN

Those who love Mill Creek Park – and there are many in the Valley who do – now can display their affection with T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs and other merchandise featuring the park logo.

“People are always saying, ‘I want to buy something that says ‘Mill Creek MetroParks’ on it,’” said Leslie Cusano, marketing manager for the park.

People now can do just that, at Lanterman’s Mill, Ford Nature Center and Fellows Riverside Gardens.

Those locations now offer T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, picnic blankets, animal-themed backpacks for children, umbrellas and tote bags ranging in price from $7 for the backpacks to $18 for umbrellas and totes. Soon to be added to that selection are fleece blankets and tumblers.

“And it all matches our new brand,” said Samantha Villella, community-engagement director for the park.

It’s the first time the park system is selling products that display its logo. The decision to do so stems from public demand, park officials say, but the roots

are in an ongoing marketing effort.

“It’s part of our marketing initiative that we started in 2013,” said Villella. That initiative aims to develop a single brand, with a single logo.

“It’s part of realizing who we are. ... We are the MetroParks,” Villella said.

People often didn’t view sites such as Ford Nature Center, Fellows Riverside Gardens and the MetroParks Farm in Canfield as being part of the same park, Villella and Cusano said.

“There is so much diversity here. And the brand is bringing it all together,” Villella said.

After the debut of the new logo a couple of years ago, staff members at all park locations began to wear polo-style shirts and name tags that feature the design, and park vehicles and facility signs now display it.

After visitors took note, some asked about buying logo merchandise for themselves, Villella and Cusano said.

The new brand is about “bringing a fresh, clear eye to what’s coming for the MetroParks,” Villella said.

“This is the community’s park. And I think our brand is that we offer something for everyone. It’s their memories,” she said.