Outdoor gear retailer REI said it planned to open its first Coachella Valley store on Friday at The River in Rancho Mirage.
An REI spokesperson said Friday’s “soft opening,” which wasn’t publicly announced, will allow staff to “train and make final adjustments” before the Oct. 4 grand opening.
REI announced in January that it would be opening the store inside a 25,000-square-foot space that was the longtime home of Borders and, more recently, Forever 21 until it closed at the end of 2019.
The next closest REI store to the Coachella Valley is in the Victoria Gardens mall in Rancho Cucamonga.
REI was founded in 1938 in Seattle and remains based in nearby Kent, Washington. The stores sell a wide assortment of outdoor gear and apparel that can be used for camping, cycling, climbing and other activities. The brand is also known for its co-op structure in which the store is owned by “members” (aka customers), who pay a $30 lifetime fee and can both vote for members of the company’s board of directors and receive a 10% dividend on purchases.