REI CEO will retire, to be replaced by former Nike, Sephora executive
REI CEO Eric Artz is retiring at the end of March, the Issaquah, Washington-based co-op announced Wednesday.
Artz joined the company in 2012 as its chief financial officer after two decades of working for retail companies, including Urban Outfitters and VF Corp., the parent company of the North Face. After a tenure marked toward the end by financial challenges, the company’s board credited Artz with stabilizing REI before handing it off to his successor.
“We have accomplished more together in these 12 years than I ever imagined, at times making our way through the unimaginable, and confronting many tough choices together,” Artz said in a memo to employees Wednesday “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.”
He’ll be replaced by Mary Beth Laughton, a former REI board director and retail veteran who’s held leadership roles at Nike, Athleta and Sephora.
Laughton will join REI as its president Feb. 3, before assuming full CEO responsibilities March 31. REI said in a news release that she’ll be on the road visiting stores, distribution centers and the Issaquah headquarters as part of her onboarding. Based in Portland currently, Laughton will relocate to the Seattle area.
Artz led the company through particularly challenging times for the retailer and the outdoors industry.
He assumed the role in early 2019 after his predecessor Jerry Stritzke stepped down. REI had conducted an investigation into a personal relationship Stritzke had with the head of another organization in the outdoors industry. The company said Stritzke’s failure to disclose the relationship “led to a perceived conflict of interest” and he resigned.
Several years into the pandemic, Artz had to steer REI through a period of uncertainty. The company reported a $164 million loss for 2022 despite record sales. REI followed that up with a $311 million loss in 2023 and began laying off employees.
Toward the end of 2024, Artz told employees the goal was to break even in operating profit. He told The Seattle Times this month that he believes REI was close to that goal.
Part of that plan was to trim parts of the company that weren’t making sense financially. REI eliminated its outdoor classes, events and tours business this month, laying off 428 employees in the process.
Artz also said last year that REI was flattening its leadership structure and declining to backfill certain executive roles that opened.
“Eric has led and stabilized REI through some of the most challenging years the retail sector and our co-op ever faced,” said Chris Carr, chair of REI’s board, in a news release. Laughton, Carr continued, “has the ideal experience to build on this foundation and to lead REI forward into our next chapter.”
Laughton’s most recent role was at Nike, where she led the company’s global retail and online direct-to-consumer business. Before that she was CEO of Athleta, a women-focused athletic apparel brand owned by Gap.
She was also an REI board member from 2017 to 2019.
Artz told employees Wednesday that the board chose Laughton as part of the co-op’s planned succession process. He said he was “confident that this is both the right moment and leader to write the next chapter for the co-op.
“Mary Beth and I will partner closely throughout this intentional transition and onboarding period, during which the leadership team will continue to report to me,” Artz said.