REI Co-op sets opening for new store on BullStreet
Hip outdoor outfitter REI Co-op has set a new date for opening its store at BullStreet.
The opening was set for spring, possibly April, but the coronavirus and subsequent stay-at-home decree by Gov. Henry McMaster in March delayed that rollout. The Washington-state based outdoor store now is targeting August.
“After two months of temporary closures, we are ready to start reopening some stores on a limited basis with a new set of health and safety protocols,” spokeswoman Caitlin Goettler said.
REI has completed a 20,000-square-foot store near the intersection of Colonial Drive and Bull Street on a reconfigured Freed Street. Freed Street currently connects Bull Street to the entry plaza of Segra Park, Columbia’s minor league baseball stadium..
Columbia is the second location for the outfitter in South Carolina.
The Greenville store opened in 2011. The company is presently offering curbside pickup at its store in Greenville, Goettler said.
“This area has amazing access to outdoor recreation and proximity to Charleston and the coast,” REI’s retail director for the South Gail Kirkland told The State when the store was announced last year. “Our strategy is also to go where our members are, and we have more than 122,000 lifetime members in South Carolina. And we’ve noticed a lot of our members from South Carolina shop in our Charlotte and Greenville locations.”
REI was founded in 1938 and sells outdoor gear for such activities as hiking, cycling, camping and paddling. It does not sell hunting or fishing equipment.
The store is member-owned, but you don’t have to be a member to shop there.
Members pay $20 for a lifetime membership and share in the company’s profits through an annual dividend.
REI will also offer gear rentals allowing people to enjoy more outdoor activities and try new products, company officials said.
It is expected to hire about 45 employees in Columbia. Job seekers can apply online at REI.com/jobs.
‘A lot on the horizon’
REI is a major coup for Hughes Development Corp., the master developer of BullStreet, the sprawling 181-acre former mental hospital campus. The group had been criticized after plans for a 400,000-square-foot shopping and housing village called BullStreet Commons with up to 80 retailers didn’t materialize.
Now, REI will be joined next year by a Starbucks featuring a patio and drive-thru and Iron Hill Brewery, a Delaware-based brewery and restaurant chain. Both will also be located along Bull Street.
“There is a lot on the horizon,” said Chandler Cox, project manager for Hughes Development.,
The outdoor retailer “shares our vision of BullStreet,” she said, noting the recent completion of a new 20-acre city park and its eventual connection to the Three Rivers Greenway.
BullStreet is considered the biggest land deal in modern Columbia history. It is zoned for 3.3 million square feet of commercial space, which is roughly the size of Greenville’s central business district.
The city has invested tens of millions of dollars in the 181-acre campus, including Segra Park, a $37-million, mostly taxpayer-funded professional baseball stadium, as well as streets, utilities, curbs and gutters.
REI joins a growing list of tenants at BullStreet:
▪ Construction has been completed on the first phase of the largest private development project to date in the district — the $30 million, 196-unit Merrill Gardens senior living complex.
▪ The Terranova group of Greenville is building 28 luxury townhomes along Calhoun Street. Five have been completed in the TownPark development — all sold, and four more units are on the way.
▪ Capgemini, a Paris, France-based technology company, is housed in the First Base building, along with the Ogletree Deakins law firm, Founders Federal Credit Union and the Central Carolina Community Foundation.
▪ Co-working space SOCO in the historic Bakery hosts the COLAToday hyperlocal newsletter and other startups.
▪ S.C. Department of Natural Resources has its archeology center in the Parker Annex.
▪ Downtown Church has converted the Central Energy facility into an event venue.
▪ And developers are working to convert the historic Babcock Building into 200 apartments.
For more information, go to http://www.bullstreetsc.com.