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Outdoor retailer REI may have just completed a new business campus just outside Seattle, but the company now plans to sell the facility before it even relocates due to the new reality of the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said Wednesday it is moving away from the 380,000-square-foot building and the 8-acre campus in Bellevue with a view to moving toward a “less centralized approach” to its presence in the Seattle area.
“The dramatic events of 2020 have challenged us to re-examine and rethink every aspect of our business and many of the assumptions of the past. That includes where and how we work, ”Eric Artz, president and CEO, told staff during a video call. “As a result, our new experience of ‘headquarters’ will be very different from the one we proposed more than four years ago.”
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REI originally announced plans for the new headquarters in 2016 on an 8-acre site in a neighborhood called the Spring District.
Construction began in 2018 for a planned midsummer 2020 entry date.
But then the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020.
REI’s flagship store on October 24, 2016, in Seattle (Photo by Suzi Pratt / Getty Images for REI)
The Kent, Wash.-Based company has had its roughly 1,200 employees working remotely since March 2 in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of a single office location as employees can return to work, REI plans to have multiple satellite campuses in the Seattle area and will “pay” remotely to work as part of “new normal” for employees.
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The company said the move would also provide more flexibility for business workers to live outside of western Washington, while also shrinking the cooperative’s carbon footprint.
“[This year] we learned that the more divisive way of working that we previously thought would unlock unsustainable rather than incomprehensible potential, ”Artz said. “This will have a direct, positive impact on our ability to attract and retain a diverse and highly skilled workforce as we continue the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”
REI also closed more than 160 retail sites on March 16, causing a dramatic drop in revenue. In May, the company projected a 30% drop in revenue for the year due to the pandemic.
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Although stores began reopening in May and sales have been better than forecast, Chief Customer Officer Ben Steele said the company expects to be “on an annual basis.”
In an interview with staff, Artz said the sale of the Bellevue campus will also help with much-needed cash flow as retailers try to recover COVID-19 losses, Q13FOX reported.
REI said Wednesday it is in talks with “multiple stakeholders” to sell the unused building and campus.
The Seattle Times reported that one of those parties is Facebook, which has facilities in the same upscale development.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
