Phil Castle, The Business Times

A locally published magazine has expanded its operation by selling locally produced products.

The effort constitutes an extension of a brand that celebrates the local lifestyle, said Krystyn Hartman, publisher of Grand Valley Magazine.

“It’s an obvious extension of our magazine brand,” Hartman said. “Every product has a story, and every story has a product.”

Grand Valley Magazine offers both online shopping at www.GVcatalog.com as well as a 1,200 square foot catalog store located at 2500 North Ave. in Grand Junction. The combination allows customers to both shop online and buy local, Hartman said.

Customers can buy online and have their orders shipped or pick them up in person at the store. Gift baskets and packages also are available, as is gift wrapping, Hartman said. Of course, customers also are free to browse at their leisure at the store.

The Web site and store offer more than 100 products, including everything from Loki hats to Enstrom toffee to Dirty Hippie Wheat Beer Jelly as well as baskets, jewelry and lavender products made by local artisans. Back issues of Grand Valley Magazine also are available.

Hartman said the concept for the store started as a challenge among members of the magazine staff to live local — from growing and trading garden vegetables to using locally made soaps and lotions to reading books by local authors.

“It’s amazing how local you can go,” she said.

In addition, Grand Valley Magazine regularly features stories about local artists and artisans and the products they create, Hartman said.

It’s a matter of becoming aware of what’s available and how to get it, Hartman said.

The store takes care of that in offering the convenience of a one-stop shopping venue. “We took it a step further. We want to make it easy for people.”

Hartman said she expects more products to become available as stories about them appear in the magazine. “We haven’t even scratched the surface.”

But she also expects the process to work the other way in that newly discovered products will lead to magazine stories.