Rising theft and fears for employee safety as neighborhood crime surges will lead REI to close down its only store in Portland, Oregon, next year.
The outdoor-apparel co-op said in a letter to members Monday that its location in Portland’s Pearl District will close permanently at the end of February, when the lease at the location ends.
The letter specifically pointed to the location’s issues with crime as part of the reason.
“The safety of our employees, members and customers is always our number one priority. In recent years, Portland has been dealing with increased crime in our neighborhood and beyond. Last year, REI Portland had its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide extra security,” REI wrote in the internal letter, obtained by The Seattle Times.
The store was hit by one especially brazen theft last November when a perpetrator rammed a car through REI’s entrance and stole apparel before fleeing.
A spokeswoman for REI said that the company tried to fortify the store by replacing its windows with security glass, hiring 24-hour security, and installing surveillance equipment by the store’s loading dock.
Crime has been “overwhelming the systems in place” nevertheless, REI spokeswoman Megan Behrbaum told the newspaper.
“We still experienced 10 burglaries, including one event that shut down our 14th Street entrance for more than two months,” she said.
A member of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said that the city began focusing more police patrols to the area and worked to intercept shoplifters.
Crime has plagued the Pearl District, Portland’s biggest retail neighborhood, in recent years.
Local NBC affiliate KGW-TV reported that the area saw 933 reported thefts through the first 10 months of 2022, up from 791 reported thefts during the first 10 months of 2019, the most recent pre-pandemic year.
Car thefts jumped from 35 in 2019 to 119 in 2022, and assaults increased from 126 to 197 in that same time frame.
REI isn’t alone in leaving the Portland city proper. Nike closed one of its Portland stores to public access and cited shoplifting issues to city officials, per The Seattle Times.
REI stores are still open in the Portland suburbs of Tualatin, Hillsboro and Clackamas.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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