REI Co-op on Wednesday announced the hiring of Amazon veteran Cameron Janes as its new senior vice president, chief commercial officer.
Janes previously spent more than 14 years at Amazon, most recently as a vice president working on the company’s physical retail stores. He departed last month.
Janes, a competitive cyclist and son of a former park ranger, will take up a newly-created executive role at Seattle-based REI, a retail giant in the outdoors industry. He starts Jan. 3.
“I consider this an incredible opportunity but also a great responsibility to get to help grow and progress an organization that is focused on making the outdoors accessible for all,” Janes said in a statement.
In a post on LinkedIn announcing his departure from Amazon, Janes said his next step would be “to see if I can take everything I have learned at Amazon and effectively apply it in another context and culture.”
Janes had worked on the company’s bricks-and-mortar business in a variety of capacities since 2015, when Amazon opened its first physical bookstore at Seattle’s University Village. Since then, the company has launched a variety of physical retail concepts, including its Amazon Go, Amazon 4-star, and Amazon Fresh stores.
REI reported revenue of $2.7 billion in 2020, down from $3.1 billion in 2019. The company has more than 20 million members and 174 locations nationwide. Its digital platforms include REI.com, REI Outlet, and the REI shopping app.
REI also today announced the promotion of Kelley Hall to executive vice president, chief financial officer, and the promotion of Vivienne Long to senior vice president, chief marketing officer.
