A clothing shop near Denali National Park will pay $53,000 in fines to the state of Alaska after telling an undercover investigator that it was selling items made from Yakutat alpacas, which do not exist.
The fines are the result of a consumer protection lawsuit filed in July by the Alaska Department of Law against the owners of a shop known variously as The Himalayan and Mt. McKinley Clothing Company. State prosecutors reached a settlement agreement in November.
State law prohibits someone from falsely claiming that a product was made in Alaska.
According to the state, the clothing shop repeatedly attempted to mislabel foreign products as Alaska-made, something verified by an undercover investigation.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the shop will have to pay fines and notify the state before it sells any products labeled as “made in Alaska.” The terms of the agreement expire in 2028.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
