REI will relocate its Cary, NC store into a 27,000-square-foot space vacated by Borders, which is liquidating under bankruptcy, according to the News & Observer newspaper. The move will allow REI to expand the store to 6,000 square feet.
Borders announced in July it would close all 400 of its U.S. stores after failing to sell them at auction as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. That included six large stores in the Triangle area of North Carolina.
REI will relocate the Cary store from Crossroads Plaza to the former Borders store at Walnut Street. The additional space will allow the store to add a community space and expand its assortment of paddlesports, cycling and footwear. The new location should open next spring.
Since entering the North Carolina market with the Cary store in 1992, REI has gone on to open six others stores in the following order: Durham, Raleigh, Greensboro, Pineville, Charlotte and Asheville.
