Farewell to the SoHo REI

By Audrey Hill

As the sun set one Thursday evening in late July, the SoHo REI shut its doors for the last time. Its passing did not go unremarked ─ hundreds of New Yorkers stopped by a makeshift shrine near the entrance of the store, which had peered out of the bottom floors of the iconic Puck Building for more than 15 years.

Originally planned as a single gathering, the anonymous organizers of the “celebration of life” for the late REI store had to pivot to an all-day vigil due to the overwhelming local interest ─ almost 500 people RSVPed “yes” and more than 600 were “interested” in the event which was advertised on the platform Partiful.

As the day went by, people gathered a few at a time to leave notes and remembrances, often lingering to hug friends, shed a tear, or gaze up at the building’s iconic red facade. Some even sprinted into the store to do some last minute shopping before disappearing into the warm summer bustle of the city, armed with a hat or camping equipment.

On colorful, overlapping Post-it notes, some mourners bemoaned the loss of the retail giant’s first unionized store, others a rare source of outdoor gear and expertise, and still others deeply regretted the loss of a truly top notch spot to pee in a city sorely lacking in public restrooms. One note read, “THE GREATEST POTTY BREAK IN NYC! No other store will ever compare! REI FOREVA!”

One mourner, Eric Zheng, said he’d been inspired to attend because the store was where he was first able to equip himself and cultivate a burgeoning love for the outdoors. “It’s where I got a lot of the knowledge and gear that I needed to start exploring,” Zheng said, adding that he’d been heartened to see people showing up to the vigil.

Kate and Jocelyn, were some of the 72 workers (the entire staff) at the location whose jobs were cut with the closure. In the last minutes before the store closed for the final time, they paused to read and leave remembrances of their own.

Looking at each other and smiling, both said they were grateful for the connections that they’d formed while working there ─ it’s where the two friends had met ─ but they were ready to move on. “Working at one place for four years, especially retail ─ it’s like…yeah, let’s move on, let’s put away the green vest,” Kate said.

In 2022, workers at the SoHo location of REI voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Development Store Union (RWDSU), making it the first of the company’s more than 200 locations to unionize. Since then, they had been involved in tense negotiations that had largely stalled ─ and ultimately never ended up ratifying a collective bargaining contract.

The company positions itself as a progressive champion, often donating to causes on the left like protecting public lands and gun safety. It calls itself a co-op because with one $20 membership fee, customers can get a small ownership share of the company and have voting power over things like electing board members.

Critics argue that this progressive positioning hasn’t translated into better outcomes for its employees. REI Co-op has drawn criticism from workers and labor advocates for paying unlivable wages, refusing to provide benefits, unfairly terminating workers, and engaging in union busting. According to a Vice News article from 2022, before voting to unionize, workers at the SoHo store were forced to listen to anti-union talking points before their morning shifts.

This was clearly top-of-mind for many mourners. “Organized, got punished for it. Yeah workers, BOO REI,” read one unsigned Post-it. Another said, “Solidarity forever! Power to the workers!” right next to a more critical one reading simply, “simping for capitalism.”

Kate was generally glad to have been in the union. “I think it benefited us, especially with the store closing, they’ve made it so we could get a decent severance.”

Many of the workers I spoke to said they believed the union organizing could have played a role in REI’s decision to close the store, but also pointed to its dire financial circumstances as another factor. While it’s true the company has been struggling in recent years, it has also been on an upward trajectory. In 2023 it reported $311 million in net losses, $156 million in 2024 and $54 million in 2025. The company itself has said little publicly about the reasoning behind the closure of the SoHo store and doesn’t disclose the finances of individual stores, so much is up to speculation.

In early 2025, Mary Beth Laughton took over as CEO. By October the decision to close the SoHo location, as well as two other locations in Boston and Paramus, was announced ─ just a week after Laughton outlined her three year plan to get the struggling company back on track. In a statement about the closures, the retailer merely wrote, “As markets and customer needs evolve, we must adapt to position the co-op for long-term success.”

The future remains uncertain for the iconic Puck Building, which is a New York City designated historic landmark. It had many incarnations, from housing the 1800s cartoon magazine Puck, to being featured in the television show Will & Grace.

The building was acquired in the 1990s by the Kushner family through their real estate firm Kushner Companies. In the 2010s, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and now our country’s “special envoy for peace,” converted the top two floors into luxury penthouses ─ one briefly occupied by brother, Josh Kushner, and his wife, model Karlie Kloss.

Recently, another 90,000 square feet was leased to OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT ─ a move potentially referenced by the eloquent Post-it tribute: “Will miss REI! F*ck AI.”

As of now, the bottom floors remain empty.