#1,672 - Court documents detail Portland REI forced to close due to shoplifting epidemic

Questions mounted after REI announced plans last week to shut down its flagship Portland store at year’s end. The outdoor gear company said negotiations with its landlord had broken down after it sought to make “significant investment” in the space on Northwest Johnson Street in the Pearl District.

In an email to customers, it cited increased crime. But an employee later told Oregon Business magazine that the store had been cutting hours and was in the midst of a union drive. Meanwhile, John Hallstrom, the managing member for the property owner, Brolin Co. LLC, said it was negotiating a 10-year lease, but “external factors that we are unable to control caused REI to decide to leave at the end of the current lease term.”

It’s difficult to say which of these reasons was the primary driver of the announcement—or if REI will really leave. But it is certainly true that REI and other businesses in central Portland have been struggling with shoplifting in recent years. WW reviewed several recent prosecutions to understand why outdoor retailers, like REI, are frequent targets, and why theft has proven so difficult to stop.

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