Outdoor Retail Store, City Format
Client
REI
Role
Design Lead
Year
2023
Challenge
How might REI design a scalable retail experience that resonates with outdoor enthusiasts living in cities—many of whom are unfamiliar with the brand, lack personal vehicles, and have different motivations and expectations than REI’s core suburban base?
Solution
A new small-format urban retail concept focused on premium, curated apparel and local-activity gear. The design emphasized accessibility and brand storytelling, with an inviting customer journey that began with approachable lifestyle products and led to deeper technical offerings—supported by knowledgeable staff and seamless omnichannel services.
Approach
Customer Discovery:
Engaged over 15,000 urban consumers via surveys, interviews, and observational research to understand behaviors, motivations, and barriers.
Key finding: urbanites are more extrinsically motivated, comfort-seeking, and retail-savvy than non-urban counterparts.
Experience Strategy:
Developed a retail format hypothesis centered on ease, style, and expertise.
Crafted a modular design framework emphasizing: Brand-led merchandising (vs. activity-led) Seasonal, high-margin apparel at the front Local relevance in gear assortment Clear storytelling of REI’s co-op identity
Feasibility + Viability:
Balanced business goals with operational constraints (small footprint, limited services, systems inflexibility).
Developed a testing roadmap to de-risk the pilot: Warehouse testing for immersive prototyping In-store A/B testing of merchandising concepts
Pop-up shop exploration for live market validation
Outcomes
Delivered a compelling, insight-driven format with a projected $1B market opportunity and a path to increasing member diversity by 45% in key markets.
Created a scalable test-and-learn strategy to validate design assumptions before full-scale rollout.
Paused ahead of pilot due to macroeconomic conditions, but the work established a strategic foundation for future urban expansion aligned with REI’s 2030 growth vision.