On March 5th, Tampa Bay residents received the gift of the outdoors. REI Co-op is a retail store that specializes in outdoor activities including biking, hiking, camping, backpacking, and paddling.

Tampa joins the 168 other locations spread out in 38 other states and Washington D.C. Before this location opened, residents had to travel to either Winter Park or Jacksonville to visit and shop at an REI store. According to REI Public Affairs, “Before opening our store in Tampa, Tampa had the largest concentration of active REI members without a store to serve them.”

REI is found in Midtown off Interstate 275, on Dale Mabry. This new location has a 22,500 square footage store. It is equipped with a bike repair station and is surrounded by an apartment building and a pond.