Philadelphia Magazine’s website has a story today about a proposed “lifestyle” shopping center in King of Prussia. The development would be a mix of various size retailers, restaurants and public space. What caught our eye was the mention of REI has a store that has leased space. REI has had a store in Conshohocken store forever and the new store would just a few miles away. From the article:

Tom Sebastian, senior vice president acquisition and development of Maryland-based JBGR Retail, wants to switch things up a bit with new 20-acre development called the King of Prussia Town Center, which he described as a “upscale project” with an lively town square hub in the middle surrounded by a bevy full-serivce dining options. “This is going to be a very active space,” said Sebastian. “This will be the only lifestyle shopping center in the market.”

Further down in the article REI is mentioned when it lists the big name retailers that have already signed on:

Ah yes, what about those retail offerings? Sebastian said they’ve leased up 70% of the retail space with a mix of big name national brands–like REI, Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom Rack and Fogo de Chao–with well-known Philly companies, such as Honeygrow, a fast-casual restaurant that’s rapidly expanding, to anchor the development. Sebastian seemed particularly excited about Honeygrow, calling it a “cool new concept” that’s wrapped in natural materials like wood and stone and finished off with a rusted corrugated steel slats.

We looked up to see how REI stores in the region are spaced out. There are four in the region, one in Conshohocken, two in Pittsburgh and one in Delaware. The two in Pittsburgh are a 40 minute drive apart. If it does open a new store in King of Prussia, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to maintain the one so close in Conshy.

If you want to view the sales brochure for the development click here.

We will keep you posted.

Rendering from JBGR.com.