Seattle-based Recreational Equipment Inc. opens Pearl District store

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Feb 27, 2004 by Aimee Curl

The Pearl District REI will open today on the bottom two floors of The Edge, a glass-enclosed, 11-story loft building that towers just east of Interstate 405 between Northwest Johnson and Kearney streets.

Seattle-based Recreational Equipment Inc., better known as REI, opened its original Portland store at Jantzen Beach in 1976. The company also has a Tigard location.

The 35,000-square-foot Pearl District store is about the same size as the Jantzen Beach location, but the space will be better used, said REI Spokesman Mike Foley. The new Portland REI also includes a 22-foot rock climbing wall.

The move from Jantzen Beach to the Pearl took place overnight last weekend. Foley said the old store closed for the last time Saturday and the merchandise was completely cleared out and moved downtown by 10 a.m. Sunday morning.

He said the company is expecting to be busy during the Pearl store's grand opening weekend. The first 400 customers in the door today and tomorrow will receive a free 32-ounce water bottle with a $5, $25, $50 or $100 REI gift card inside.

There will also be valet parking for those who arrive at the store on a bicycle.

We're working with the Portland Bicycle Transportation Alliance to promote bicycle transportation in the city, Foley said. For every person that rides their bike to the store Friday, Saturday or Sunday, we'll donate $10 to the alliance.

Other grand opening events include a free continental breakfast that will be provided by Columbia Sportswear Friday and Saturday mornings. The Sierra Club will serve free coffee Saturday and Sunday, and Coleman is sponsoring a free barbecue lunch today.

The Pearl location is one of six new stores REI is opening this year, including a 26,000-square-foot location at The Streets of Tanasbourne in Hillsboro. The company, founded in 1938, has 69 stores nationwide.

We seem to be on a run of downtown stores, Foley said. We just opened a store in downtown Boston, one in San Francisco and now this one in the Pearl.