Dive Brief:
- Weeks after the retailer shuttered its experiences business, REI on Wednesday announced that CEO Eric Artz will retire in March as part of a planned succession process. Mary Beth Laughton, a former REI board director and one-time Athleta CEO, will take on the role, per a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
- Laughton, who most recently led Nike’s global retail and digital direct-to-consumer business, will become president of REI on Feb. 3 and take over full CEO responsibilities on March 31. Artz spent 12 years with the company and six as its CEO, per a letter the executive shared with employees.
- “While there is never a good moment to step away from an organization you love, we have positive momentum in the business and are in a much better position,” Artz told employees. “We’re seeing the fruits of our labor and have a solid foundation for a new leader to come in and take the co-op forward.”
Dive Insight:
REI is looking to a new CEO to guide its next phase as it works to regain solid financial footing. The outdoors retailer said in its announcement that it expects to reach breakeven operating profit (pre-dividend) and nearly breakeven free cash flow for the year, which is a “significant improvement” over 2023.
“Eric has led and stabilized REI through some of the most challenging years the retail sector and our co-op ever faced. REI is in a strong position today because he always kept our purpose, values, and people as his north star,” Chris Carr, REI’s board chair, said in a statement. “Mary Beth has the ideal experience to build on this foundation and to lead REI forward into our next chapter. The world needs a strong REI, and we are confident Mary Beth will hit the ground running.”
In Artz’s letter to employees, he also praised Laughton as the right leader for REI and noted that the two would work closely together during the transition period. Laughton plans to spend her initial couple of months with the business traveling to stores and distribution centers to build connections with employees and others. She will be based in REI’s office in Issaquah, Washington, according to a letter from Carr to employees and co-op members.
In addition to her experience at Nike, Athleta and as a board member at REI, Laughton also previously ran Sephora’s North American stores and digital operations. She takes over at REI after the retailer underwent two years of considerable layoffs, including 357 in January last year, 275 as part of a store operations overhaul in October 2023 and the more than 400 employees that were let go as the experience business closed this month.
Amid the cost-cutting, REI also changed its return policy in November to curb misuse by a small number of members.
In addition to Laughton, REI has a new chief marketer, who joined the company just a few months ago. The outdoors retailer remains focused on expansion as well, with six stores planned for this year and at least two in 2026.
In his farewell to the business, Artz highlighted the importance of the outdoors to everyday life and the retailer’s customers.
“Being outside means something different for everyone and our job is not to tell people what that looks like. It is to show one another and to welcome others, always making time outside more accessible to more people in more ways,” Artz said to employees. “That is worth fighting for and why I believe the world must have a strong REI.”
