Dive Brief:
- Amid a challenging year for outdoor retail, REI on Tuesday named a new chief marketing officer. Abigail Jacobs, who comes with experience from the likes of Sephora, West Elm and Pottery Barn, will take on the role, per a company press release.
- Jacobs was most recently the senior vice president of integrated marketing and brand at Sephora, according to her LinkedIn profile, and spent more than 13 years at Williams-Sonoma. The executive also once worked as a communications manager at Kmart.
- At REI, Jacobs will be responsible for overseeing all marketing functions, including creative, brand strategy, marketing operations, and customer and member planning.
Dive Insight:
It’s been a tough couple of years for REI, which swung to a loss in 2022 despite record sales and has been working to turn things around since then. Those efforts have included large rounds of layoffs both last year and this year that encompassed both corporate headquarters and store staff.
But the retailer has also made a number of changes to its C-suite, including promoting two executives this summer to the positions of chief technology officer and chief operating officer. Now, REI is bringing on a new marketing chief who knows how to “infuse a brand with purpose,” CEO Eric Artz said in a statement.
“As I got to know Abigail, I was struck by her ability to successfully marry customer-centricity and commercial performance with mission in a specialty retail environment,” Artz said. “Abigail believes in the co-op's mission — that time outside is a fundamental human right — and understands how to bring that mission to life through marketing.”
Jacobs, for her part, said she admired REI’s expertise, advocacy and experience. Key to the REI model is its co-op membership program, which sits at 24 million members, and a mix of both outdoor merchandise and tailored travel experiences for its customer base. But the retailer has been “evolving” its business strategy over the past couple of years, which has caused layoffs in its experiences division as well as other areas.
The changes, according to Artz, have been driven by financial necessity as the sector has declined. The chief executive said at the start of the year that REI was anticipating sales would be down year over year again and stressed the importance of returning the co-op to profitability. At the same time, REI has stayed in expansion mode, with plans to open 10 stores this year, six stores next year and at least two in 2026, alongside investments in its current fleet.
The outdoor sector surged during the pandemic as more shoppers headed outside, but many in the space have faced challenges since then. In addition to REI, outdoor retailer Orvis laid off 8% of its workforce in October and Patagonia cut jobs around the same time. Still, others like Arc’teryx and Stanley continue to grow as more enthusiasts enter the space.
