Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Yesterday's final day at REI's NYC flagship brought plenty of discounted camping gear — and plenty of emotions.
By day's end, the outdoor retailer had closed its only NYC location after 15 years in the Puck Building at Lafayette and Houston.
The pending closure was announced last October. REI has said the decision was part of a broader strategy to adapt to changing business conditions while focusing on long-term growth.
They noted that the SoHo location is one of REI's unionized stores and said the company's Boston store — another unionized location — is also slated to close.
REI has publicly cited business reasons for the closures and has not said they are related to union activity.
"Any claim that this store is closing because of unionization is simply not true," a spokesperson told WWD. "As we shared with our employees and members last fall, the decision was based on broader business considerations and our need to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs."
Employees also told us they have not been offered transfers to other REI stores and instead must re-apply for any open positions elsewhere within the company.
Inside, there were some bittersweet moments as longtime customers stopped to thank staffers for their years of service.
More than one conversation ended with hugs — and a few tears.
With the NYC store now closed, the nearest REI locations for city residents are in Carle Place on Long Island and East Hanover, N.J.
For many outdoor enthusiasts, it's the end of an era.
18 comments:
I don't think that space actually ever hosted either of the two NYC Eastern Mountain Sports stores though it's just a block from where the downtown one was on Broadway.
This is a terrible pattern for REI, one they have repeated nationwide for many years they crush into a region with multiple stores each placed near the existing outdoor equipment retailers, drive them out of business, then leave. A few years later, sometimes, they return, to crush whatever has sprung up in the interim. The closure of REI's Yonkers and Paramus stores after driving EMS out, killing Tent & Trails, and crippling Campmor is sadly typical. They had an earlier foray into the NY suburbs in the 90s that deeply damaged or killed many of the smaller independent shops, which never came back; and I saw them do the same thing in Chicago a few years earlier as well. It is basically predatory behavior and awful for anyone who cares about the outdoors.
I feel as gutted as that store. That was an essential shopping spot for outdoor stuff, where you could actually get sized for backpacks or try on shoes and gear. And ya, one of the best public bathrooms downtown with water fountain. One last place that made NYC feel human. Sad for the workers who made it work and royally pissed at REI and the Kushners who still own that iconic building and will probably lease it to Google or another AI outfit
The current demographics of the city has enormously shifted in the last ten years. People who patronized REO moved out of the city. Now when the need outdoor gear, they just order it from Amazon, or the old standard, Eddie Bauer, try it on in the privacy of their home and go outside to test it. What doesn’t work or doesn’t fit is sent back. No fuss, no muss, no dangerous subway rides, no weaving the overcrowded streets filled with unspeakable looking people.
Will miss the bike dept for tune-ups and repairs.
? I was there about 2 months ago and the place was packed with Gen Zers, and they did not have a going out of buiness sale.
"streets filled with unspeakable looking people."
This is Fing MAGA BS. The EV and Soho are packed with stunning looking and diversified Gen Zers.
The 1st poster at this thread is spot on with his analysis of REI wiping out EMS, Tent and Trails, etc.
Well-said! Nice people, too.
Sorry, are you lost? This blog is for East Village(-ish) people. Staten Island is thataway.
It is driving me insane that the "g" in "Flagship" is touching the "l" in "closing" in the dark green closing announcement sign
😅 😅
The only place left in town with a broader selection of bike-related products and use items—will really miss that part of the store alone!
"Dangerous subway rides"? "Unspeakable looking people"?
This is the first I’m hearing about this closing; I’m still missing EMS—which I think is a better outdoors store than REI.
It’s pretty tragic that we have to leave the city to buy outdoors products now.
What are you smoking?
I also heard that Jared Kushner who owns the Puck building wanted them out to use the space for other purposes.
I spoke to people at Tents & Trails which seemed to be busy and had decent prices, better than REI. They said the owners sold the building at the end of their career in the business.
I loved going to REI. They were more expensive than other stores I have been to, so not sure they drive them out of business.
This only leaves Paragon in NYC for outdoor equipment.
I think that the key driver may have been online buying.
I like to try things in a store. Almost all the shoes I have bought online were not a good fit and had to be returned.
This is really disappointing.
Big Bummer.
...and the damage they did to the floors of the historic landmark Puck Building is permanent: the secular hardwood planks they were allowed to saw through on a massive scale, are not coming back. Why was this allowed to happen in a landmarked 150 years old building is beyond me; I had mentally forgiven them because their commitment to remain in place seemed permanent. Oh well...
Don't forget this store unionized, and that's another factor. REI is a union-busting outfit. The "co-op" part is gone and gone—they are out and out capitalists doing all the capitalism things.
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