REI will open its first stores in Delaware and Iowa late this year and open its sixth store in Virginia in 2016.
The stores will be located in Christiana, DE; Virginia Beach, VA; and West Des Moines, IA.
“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,” said Tim Spangler, REI's senior vice president of Retail. “At each store, we'll work to engage, support and grow the outdoor community.”
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.
Also this fall, REI will bring a new store to the outdoor community in West Des Moines. 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 and a thriving outdoor community. 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.
Each location will offer year-round REI Outdoor School classes and a bike shop for expert assembly and repairs. Watersports hard goods such as kayaks and stand up paddle boards will be available year-round in Virginia, and seasonally in Christiana and West Des Moines. REI Christiana will offer snow sports hard goods seasonally.
Founded as a co-op in 1938, today REI has 5.6 million active members and 138 stores in 33 states.
