Paul Adams, left, and his sister Andrea Underwood, owners of the Adams Hallmark at Crossroads Mall in Beckley, West Virginia, hold a ribbon cutting and grand opening on April 29, 2022.
Cara Ashmore, store manager, arranges merchandise at Adams Hallmark in Crossroads Mall in Mount Hope, West Virginia, on April 29, 2022. Andrea Underwood and Paul Adams are carrying on a family tradition with their Adams Hallmark store in the Crossroads Mall.
Paul Adams, left, and his sister Andrea Underwood, owners of the Adams Hallmark at Crossroads Mall in Beckley, West Virginia, hold a ribbon cutting and grand opening on April 29, 2022.
Rick Barbero | AP file photo
Customers shop for ornaments at Adams Hallmark on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in the Huntington Mall in Barboursville.
The Herald-Dispatch file photo
Cara Ashmore, store manager, arranges merchandise at Adams Hallmark in Crossroads Mall in Mount Hope, West Virginia, on April 29, 2022. Andrea Underwood and Paul Adams are carrying on a family tradition with their Adams Hallmark store in the Crossroads Mall.
HUNTINGTON ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ” Adams Hallmark, a family-owned chain of seven Hallmark stores based in West Virginia, was recently sold to PamÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s Hallmark.
Michael and Charlotte Adams started the business in 1969 in Milton. They eventually passed it on to their children, Paul Adams and Andrea Underwood. In total, theyÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve been operating for 56 years.
They moved their Milton store to the Huntington Mall about two years after it opened. The Dudley Farms location in South Charleston opened in 2001. The third and fourth stores were both in Morgantown: one at Pierpont Centre and one at University Town Center. The fifth location is Grand Central Mall in Vienna and the sixth was the Meadowbrook Mall in Bridgeport. The most recent location opened at the Crossroads Mall at Mount Hope in April 2022.
Paul Adams said his mom, Charlotte, was ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬœalways a Hallmark fan.ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ
ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬœI think that Hallmark, theyÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve always been the standard bearer. TheyÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve grown that reputation with their television network and movies,ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ he said.
He said the stores had some regular customers who have been around since the very beginning and ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬœtheyÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve grown to be a part of our family.ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ
ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬœI think when itÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s been a part of your life for your entire life ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ” definitely gonna miss doing it every day, but I think the main thing you miss are the connections you make with with the employees and with the customers and with the suppliers, people that have have been our representatives selling to us for all of these years, so I think itÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s definitely a matter of missing the people and hopefully we can stay in contact with a lot of them,ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ he said.
They donÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™t have plans to leave West Virginia anytime soon.
PamÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s Hallmark is a family-owned chain out of Maryland operated by Kevin Hugel and his sister Julie McCoy Hugel. The family has ties to Greenbrier County and has been looking to expand to West Virginia for a while. Kevin Hugel graduated from West Virginia University and still attends sporting events there.
Kevin Hugel said the acquisition has been a little overwhelming, as theyÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve never purchased seven stores at the same time like this. They currently have nine stores in Maryland, one in Virginia and two in Delaware.
TheyÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve also kept all employees from Adams Hallmark who wanted to stay on.
Kevin Hugel said one of the unique things about the West Virginia stores is the variety of collegiate merchandise and customer base looking for those items. He said itÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s not something his company currently has in its other stores, but he is excited to get into it.
He also really likes how much local merchandise the West Virginia stores sell, like Blenko Glass, Kevin Hugel said. Local vendors are something PamÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™s Hallmark stores plan to expand into with the acquisition.
ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬœWeÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ™ve always had a lot of respect for the Adams Hallmark stores,ÈËÑýÉ«ÇéƬ he said.
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