REI taps Target, PetSmart veteran as chief merchant

Dive Brief:

REI has named a 10-year Target veteran as its next chief merchandising officer, the retailer announced Monday. Kristin Shane also brings experience from The Guitar Center and PetSmart, per a company press release.
Shane will lead the strategy for REI’s merchandising categories, with a focus on driving sustainable growth and a differentiated experience. The outdoors retailer touted her prior experience in developing effective omnichannel operations across segments.
Shane will also be responsible for localizing the product assortment, strengthening brand relationships, growing REI’s label, and identifying category and brand expansion opportunities. 

Dive Insight:

Just two months after sportswear veteran Mary Beth Laughton was tapped as CEO, REI is naming a new member of its C-suite.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Kristin to the co-op,” Laughton, who was operating as president prior to Monday, said in a statement. “Her leadership and decades of experience working with an array of consumer and retail brands is sure to inspire innovation and play an instrumental role in furthering our mission to help people get outdoors.” 

Shane, for her part, said she planned to prioritize innovation and newness, along with incubating emerging brands.

In addition to Laughton and Shane, Abigail Jacobs arrived late last year as REI’s chief marketing officer and the co-op also named a chief operating officer and a chief technology officer in 2024. The outdoors retailer has made a slew of changes over the past few years, including a store operations overhaul that led to nearly 300 job cuts and the decision to shut down its experiences business, which also led to hundreds of layoffs.

Those are on top of multiple rounds of corporate layoffs, which hit 200 people in January last year and another 167 in February 2023. 

Nevertheless, REI is in expansion mode when it comes to its store fleet. The outdoors retailer opened 10 stores last year, has plans to open six new locations this year and will debut at least two in 2026. That’s in addition to investments in its current fleet to improve customer experience and the workplace environment. 

The job cuts and leadership changes come amid a tough time for REI, which has publicly discussed the need to return to profitability and the challenges in the outdoor space at the moment. While the outdoors sector boomed in the early days of the pandemic, it has since shown signs of correction, with Dick’s recently scaling back its outdoors business and Patagonia turning to layoffs last year.