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PORTLAND, Ore. — The REI store in Portland's Pearl District will close at the end of February 2024, the company announced on Monday. In a letter to REI members, the company cited concerns over safety and an increase in crime over the last few years as reasons for the closure. "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,"...

Another day another store going out of business in Portland. Last week I wrote about a coffee shop closing a downtown location because of rising crime and problems with violent street people. Today, outdoor retailer REI announced it was closing its only Portland store because of increased crime and theft in the area.In a letter to REI members, the company cited concerns over safety and an increase in crime over the last few years as reasons for the closure.“The safety of our employees, members and customers is always our number one priority. In recent years, Portland has been dealing with...

SEATTLE, Wash. - Kent-based outdoor retailer REI is putting on hold partnerships with a company that owns a gun manufacturer. While REI doesn’t sell guns, it does sell products from companies that recently have been acquired by Vista Outdoors. Companies under Vista Outdoors include Giro, Bell, Camelbak, Camp Chef and Blackburn. Vista also owns Savage Arms, which manufactures guns, including modern sporting rifles. “We believe that it is the job of companies that manufacture and sell guns and ammunition to work towards common sense solutions that prevent the type of violence that happened in Florida last month. In the last...

Alaskan tribal members have fought for decades to win approval for a 12-mile road between their remote Aleutian fishing village and a critical all-weather airport, and the federal government’s shutdown wasn’t going to get in their way. At an emotional ceremony Monday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed an agreement for a land exchange that will allow construction of a road between King Cove and an all-weather airport in Cold Bay. The Obama administration blocked the project because of concerns about its impact on a wildlife refuge. Signing the deal on behalf of the King Cove Native Corp. was finance manager...

"For 76 years we've been dedicated to getting people outside," a statement on the company's website said. "On Nov. 27 the co-op is closing all 143 stores so our employees can do just that." The move comes as several retailers, including GameStop and Staples, announced they will remain closed on Thanksgiving, to allow employees time to be with their families.

The Senate approved Sally Jewell to be the next Interior Secretary on Wednesday, placing her atop an agency at the center of intense political battles over energy throughout President Obama’s tenure. Lawmakers voted 87-11 to approve Jewell to run the department that oversees conservation, recreation, oil-and-gas drilling and other uses on vast swaths of federal land. Eleven Republicans opposed her nomination. “Sally knows that business and environment both benefit when we are committed to protecting our national parks and national treasures,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said. Jewell, who lives in Seattle, is the head of outdoor gear giant REI, Inc....

Environmentalists have cheered the decision by the Obama administration to tap Recreational Equipment Inc. CEO Sally Jewell as secretary of the interior, a position to be vacated by Ken Salazar. “In Jewell, President Obama chose a leader with a demonstrated commitment to preserving the higher purposes public lands hold for all Americans – recreation, adventure, and enjoyment,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement. “Jewell’s unique experience and her love of America’s outdoors will be invaluable to the stewardship of the waters, lands and wildlife we’ve been entrusted to protect for our children,” said Frances Beinecke, president...

Jewell has served as the outdoor retailer's CEO since 2005. She started her career as a petroleum engineer working in the oil fields of Oklahoma and Colorado for Mobil Oil Corp. She then moved to the banking industry, before joining the REI board in 1996 and becoming chief operations officer four years later.

Do you shop at REI or Barnes and Nobel or Clearcreek? If so, you might want to reconsider or at least drop them a line and let them know how you feel about their businesses raising money to defeat President Bush. shoptodropbush.com