REI announced store openings in Christiana, Del.; Virginia Beach, Va.; and West Des Moines, Ia. The national specialty outdoor retailer is coming to Delaware and Iowa for the first time late this year and opening a sixth store in Virginia in 2016.
“We have wanted to open stores in Delaware and Iowa for years, so this is exciting, and we can’t wait to bring the REI experience closer to our members and customers in Virginia. At each store, we’ll work to engage, support and grow the outdoor community,” said Tim Spangler, REI’s senior vice president of Retail. “The co-op is here to help everyone have fun living healthy, outdoor lives with great products and advice that gets you out there exploring.”
In the fall of 2015, REI will open a 23,500 square foot, one floor store in the new Christiana Fashion Center, with easy access from Interstate 95 and Route 7 and to Delaware’s beaches. Presently, 74,000 REI members live in the region and they have loyally shopped REI.com or traveled more than 40 miles to their nearest REI.
The West Des Moines, Ia., store also opens this fall. The 23,500 square foot, one story building will be in Mills Crossing, a new retail and housing development. The region boasts an active population including 3,600 REI members, but today the nearest REI is more than 200 miles away.
The company will open its doors at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach in the spring of 2016, on the corners of Virginia Beach and Independence Boulevards. At more than 27,400 square feet, the new freestanding store will serve nearly 7,500 local REI members. The first REI in Virginia opened in 1990 in Bailey’s Crossroads. Today, the nearest REI is more than 100 miles away in the Richmond-Short Pump area.
REI will hire approximately 50 employees for each new store. Interested candidates can sign up online to be notified when the store begins accepting applications.
