REI plans to open two stores, oni in Santa Monica, Calif., and one in Pineville, N.C.
The Santa Monica will open in the Spring of 2006 at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. The 32,000 square-foot store will employ about 60 full- and part-time staff.
The store in Pineville, a suburb north of Charlotte, N.C., will open in fall 2006. The store will be located next to the Carolina Place Mall at 11025 Carolina Place Parkway. The 26,500 square-foot will employ about 55 full- and part-time staff.
REI opened its first store in North Carolina in Cary in 1992. A second store was opened in Durham in 2003. A third store is scheduled to open in Raleigh this November.
The new Santa Monica store brings the total number of stores in the Los Angeles region to seven. REI opened a store in Huntington Beach in August. REI opened its first store in the Los Angeles area in 1977.
