REI will do it Close shop in Santa Monica at the end of the month, marking the second move this month outside of a busy downtown area for the outdoor retail giant.
REI Co-op's location in the heart of portland closed earlier this month.
In both cases, the company has already opened, or plans to soon open, stores in nearby more suburban areas: a location in Marina del Rey, which opened last summer, and another in Beaverton, a Portland suburb, which is scheduled to open this spring.
The closure of the Santa Monica outlet, opened in 2006, is the latest blow for one of the coastal city's stores. key business districts, which has lately begun to regain some momentum after struggling to regain its footing in recent years.
The bustling tourist destination, which took a hit during COVID-19 shutdowns, has drawn criticism from some locals about public safety and homelessness, as well as countercriticism that those complaints are overblown. TO Times review found in late 2022 that calls for police service in the city decreased dramatically in 2020 compared to the previous six years and had remained relatively stable.
REI representatives did not immediately respond to questions about why they are leaving the Santa Monica location, which officially closes at 6 p.m. on February 29, or about the January closing of a store in Fremont, California.
The company previously issue a statement about leaving Portland, saying the store had in the past year experienced “its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide additional security.”
Although REI said in the statement that it had no intention of returning to downtown Portland anytime soon, the retailer pointed shoppers to three locations in nearby suburbs.
