Outfitter REI is opening next fall its first location in Fairfield County, at the former site of a Linens ”™n Things on Connecticut Avenue in Norwalk.
Seattle-based REI operates as a cooperative, requiring a $20 membership in order to shop and providing profit sharing through discounts on purchases. At last report, the company had more than 3.7 million members who received nearly $20 in discounts for 2008. That year, REI reported a $14.5 million net profit as sales rose 7 percent to $1.4 billion.
The company is a regular fixture on Fortune magazine”™s annual ranking of the 100 best employers in the nation. The company plans to hire about 50 people to staff the Norwalk store, launching the application process about three months before the store is scheduled to open.
REI”™s lone Connecticut location at present is in West Hartford, where the co-op faces competition from Cabela”™s across the Connecticut River in East Hartford. Perhaps surprisingly, the co-op does not have a location in New York, which registers among the largest retail sales of outdoors equipment in the nation.
Fairfield County has several smaller outfitter stores, including Outdoor Sports Center in Wilton just north of the Norwalk border, and some like Westport Outfitters, which focus on niche sports, in its case sport fishing.
Whereas Cabela”™s boasts a massive floor plan and store product selection, REI focuses on providing members the ability to test gear before they purchase it. The co-op also operates a travel division called REI Adventures that leads wilderness trips.
Â
“As an outdoor retailer, we are committed to helping connect more people to nature through recreational and stewardship opportunities,” said Anne Maleady, REI retail director for the Northeast district, in a prepared statement. “By deepening our relationships with customers and organizations in Connecticut, we hope to introduce more people to the wonders of the outdoors and ensure there are places to enjoy 100 years from now and beyond.”
Â
The deal marks the first lease for a former Linens ”™n Things location in Fairfield County since the Clinton, N.J.-based company declared bankruptcy a year ago and closed its stores, though it still operates a retail website. Linens ”™n Things had two locations in Norwalk, the other at a Stop & Shop plaza just off the Merritt Parkway.
REI takes over a 24,000-square-foot building at 189 Connecticut Ave. that overlooks Interstate 95, and that is situated on a retail drag that has held up relatively well in the recession, according to Cory Gubner, CEO of Stamford-based RHYS Commercial, who brokered the transaction along with Dominick Musilli, an executive vice president with RHYS Commercial.
Gubner said the building owners received interest from multiple tenants, without identifying the others by name.
REI was represented in the real estate transaction by Timothy McNamara of SullivanHayes Cos. Northwest.
A regular contributor to conservation causes, REI said it would partner with local organizations and awarded the Norwalk River Watershed Association $5,000 to support volunteer recruitment for trail improvements along the Norwalk River. The funds will also help to develop and purchase project materials for natural restoration activities and signage as well as to publish updated trail maps.
