REI Closes SoHo Store After 15 Years, Ending Its Only New York City Location
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 25
REI Closes SoHo Store After 15 Years, Ending Its Only New York City Location
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 25
Summary
Thursday night marked the permanent closure of REI’s SoHo store, drawing New Yorkers who left notes, took photos and gathered at a makeshift “celebration of life” outside the shop.
The store had occupied three floors of the Puck Building since 2011, and its 15-year run made it unusually durable in a SoHo retail corridor known for high business turnover.
REI’s sole New York City location had become a neighborhood landmark as much as a gear shop, serving as a meeting point, bathroom stop, water refill station and refuge from heat or cold.
For many customers, the closing also removes a rare physical gateway to outdoor culture in Manhattan, ending what some visitors called an era in the city.