Over hill and dale, now REI goes into mall

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February 6, 1997

Rendering of new store

Over hill and dale, now REI goes into mall

By BRUCE RAMSEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Recreational Equipment Inc., the Seattle outdoor retailer, said it will open its first mall store in April at Bellevue Square.

The move is a change of culture for REI. Founded by mountaineers and run for 50 years as a consumer co-op, REI's strategy has been, "build a store and they will come." (And they did.) For decades its flagship store in Seattle was in a couple of old buildings near no freeway or even a decent parking lot.

REI remedied that last year with its new 98,000 square-foot store -- its largest. Now it announces its smallest -- just 3,725 square feet, to be called REI Approach. The reason for the different name is to signal that this store carries only a subset of a much broader line of goods.

"It will be an outdoorwear store," said Chief Operating Officer Dennis Madsen. It will have outerwear, apparel, some boots, rucksacks, sunglasses, hats, "and things that people need to take a trip on their boat, adventure travel or a hike in the mountains." There will be no stoves, pots, pans or tents.

The point of a mall store, Madsen said, is to bring the goods to the shoppers. At other REI stores, said Madsen, "the people who show up are 100 percent outdoor enthusiasts. In the mall they're more of a cross-section of the public. That's the reason why we're there."

The difference is not primarily cost, he said. "Space in Bellevue Square is more expensive than in a strip mall or in most stand-alone locations in Bellevue," Madsen said. "What you get for that higher cost is built-in traffic. On balance, the cost structure doesn't look all that different. The customers are different."

Management will keep a close eye on REI Approach. "As we fine-tune the concept and make it work, we would look to other markets for stores of this size," Madsen said. It could also be adapted to mountain towns, he said.

Madsen said the co-op will keep open its existing Bellevue store at 15400 N.E. 20th St. in Sherwood Center. It operates 46 stores nationwide, including other Puget Sound-area stores in Lynnwood and Federal Way. REI's 47th store is slated to open in Northville, Mich. The Bellevue Square store will be the 48th.