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REI SoHo in Soft Open Mode; Launches Friday

6:41am November 28th, 2011 | 7 Comments

REI in SoHo is a corporate game-changer for urban outdoors enthusiasts. No more are downtown crowds forced to choose between the slim pickins of nearby competitor EMS or the oft-overpriced Paragon Sports in Union Square.  Although, both are formidable foes, especially the latter which has been in business since 1908.  The selection and services of this inaugural Manhattan outpost are pretty ambitious.

REI unofficially opened its doors at 303 Lafayette over the weekend, just in time for the post-Thanksgiving retail rush. We had an opportunity to check the goods, which include fairly deep brand selection for pretty much everything – from jackets and tents to flashlights and fleeces.  The camping store even sells and services ski and snowboard equipment.  Cyclists will likely be pumped to learn of the quick-stop bike repair station on the main level, or the full-serve “garage” in the cellar; the indie shops further south on Lafayette probably aren’t.

The gigantic 39,000 square-foot (give or take) store will remain open to the public through Friday, which is actually the formal launch date.  There are two entrances, both on Lafayette and Mulberry. How do you feel about the arrival of REI in the neighborhood?

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  • Guest

    Paragon offer price matching, so shop local!

  • Mike

    Also Paragons prices are not high.  They are the same price as everyone else for the same items.  You could go to REI and buy a tent that will fall apart for pennies or buy a good tent at Paragon Sports, that will be the same price at REI and support local businesses. Bad Reporting on your part.

  • JEFF COSTIGAN

         I THINK ITS GREAT.   REI IS A FANTASTIC STORE FOR OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT, NOT A LOT OF STORES IN THE CITY THAT CATER TO THE OUTDOOR TYPE. WISH THEY HAD A STORE IN QUEENS WHERE I LIVE. I THINK ITS GONNA BE GREAT FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!

  • Chris82

    As a native Seattlite, I’d like to add my 2 cents:

    MIke is a bit uninformed. REI sells the same high quality products sold at Paragon.They do not carry “cheap” products, and they rarely have sales. They do however, have an amazing return policy. That tent that may happen to fall apart? Well, I once saw someone returning a tent they had purchased 5 years earlier, and used to travel around the world, because it started to tear.

    I for one, am excited to have a great company, dedicated to giving back to its customers and the local neighborhoods, in NYC.

    • Frankie

      REI does not sell the same products as Paragon.  It is misleading to state that they do.  There are a few items that overlap, but Paragon has a much larger selection and they do not carry the REI brand. Of course when REI’s products fail they replace no questions asked. I had a friend that had one of the REI novara bikes and they had nothing but issue after issue (4 replacements) and they went and bought a bike somewhere else. And what type of baseball equipment does REI sell?  No thank you, I will support a local business that has been around for over 100 years that carrys everything I need and anything I could ever want. 

  • B. Westgard

    Also a native Seattleite, and I’d like to add that REI is a member-owned co-op. While REI is a big company, they genuinely care about the communities in which they operate. And because it is a co-op, I would imagine that employees here will be friendlier and more knowledgeable than the other guys in town who work on commission. 

    They sell only the best equipment, and their return policy is even more generous than Nordstrom’s (coming soon to Manhattan!). They replaced my backpack because the zipper got stuck, even though I had bought it two years earlier. In short, REI is head and shoulders above anything in New York currently. 

  • JEFF COSTIGAN

         WESTGARD,          YOU ARE 100% RIGHT.  THEY DO HAVE THE BEST RETIURN POLICY OF ALL OUTDOOR SPORTING STORES I KNOW OF, AND THE STAFF THAT WORKS THERE ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE, AND FRIENDLY TOO. IN MY EYES THEY DO CARRY THE BEST OUTDOOR PRODUCTS, OTHER STORES MAY CLAIM THEY DO, IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO WHAT YOU BOUGHT THERE & YOU TRY TO RETURN IT THEY USUALLY GIVE YOU A HARD TIME, EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE RECEIPT.

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