{"id":21252,"date":"2025-07-25T23:44:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T23:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/rei-durango-is-open-for-business\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:04:41","slug":"rei-durango-is-open-for-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/rei-durango-is-open-for-business\/","title":{"rendered":"REI Durango is open for business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Staff
Staff are ready to help customers in the newly opened REI Durango store on Friday in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

REI Durango opened its doors to customers Friday, hoping to attract customers looking to gear up and get outside.<\/p>\n

The national outdoor equipment retail chain announced it would be building a Durango location in 2023. Now, it is open for business, though that fact has been largely unsung ahead of the stores Aug. 22 grand opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

But having a major company like REI in Durango is the source of a conversation over how the town\u2019s independent, locally-owned outdoor stores will manage to compete.<\/p>\n

\"Jen
Jen Hill and Mark Hawthorne of Flagstaff, Ariz., talk about their experience after shopping in the newly opened REI Durango store on Friday in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Some people, like Jen Hill who grew up in Durango and visits often from her new home in Flagstaff, Airzona, said she doesn\u2019t think it will effect local businesses, simply due to where the store is located.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have that quaint downtown and that local feel, where people will go and really be loyal to their outdoor stores,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI think REI being out here in Bodo is different. It\u2019s going to cater different folk who are just like, looking for a quick, easy go in, come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill and her partner, Mark Hawthorne, mentioned that when REI came to Flagstaff roughly two decades ago, the local outdoor shops felt a similar concern. But 20 years later, they said, many of those shops are still open alongside REI.<\/p>\n

Backcountry Experience marketing manager Brandon Mathis echoed that sentiment. He said REI is a great way for people who do not have much experience in the outdoors to get outfitted for the first time, but specialty shops like Backcountry Experience serve more niche customers.<\/p>\n

\"Shoppers
Shoppers explore Durango\u2019s new REI store. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cA lot of visitors coming into town are familiar with REI,\u201d Mathis said. \u201cA lot of people are discovering the benefits of an outdoor lifestyle. They might work with an REI or choose to go to REI when they want to elevate their interests or their pursuits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathis said shops like Backcountry Experience, Four Corners River Sports, 2nd Ave Sports and Gardenscwartz are more specialized shops that have built a reputation over decades of business. People who visit those shops come from all over the country looking for specialty services that REI may not be able to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone might come into Backcountry Experience for a custom boot fit, and we might work with them for three or four hours,\u201d Mathis said. \u201cOr we might outfit an expedition which takes us a day or two to work with the group or the people. So we really focus on some of the higher niche kind of products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathis said the presence of REI will make business a little more competitive in Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all work hard to serve our customers, and we\u2019re kind of having to spread the love a little bit thinner now,\u201d Mathis said. \u201cBut we serve a high-caliber customer, and we\u2019re good at what we do. So sure, there\u2019s a concern that there might be a little change in business, but I think it\u2019s just going to make us work harder and make us accentuate our strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

sedmondson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Staff
Staff are ready to help customers in the newly opened REI Durango store on Friday in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Staff
Staff are ready to help customers in the newly opened REI Durango store on Friday in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Staff
Staff are ready to help customers in the newly opened REI Durango store on Friday in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Staff
Staff are ready to help customers in the newly opened REI Durango store on Friday in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

outdoor chain is now welcoming customers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,28,976],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-headlines","tag-outdoor-recreation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77229,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21252\/revisions\/77229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21252"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}