Neighbors, Friends, East-enders: Thank you so much for your letter showing your enthusiasm for REI and East Liberty! We received 214 letters by October 31, 2003 and immediately shared them with REI. Our intention in organizing this effort was to give the Eastenders and others who love R.E.I a chance to express opinions about store locations to REI. For the folks who organized this effort in hopes of getting a few dozen responses, it was incredibly rewarding. It demonstrates a keen interest in the Eastend as an authentic retailing destination. There is an Eastend family of outdoor enthusiasts who share the rivers, roads, paths and parks of our region and that also share a vision for the community in which they live, work, play and shop. While one of the things we all want is better retailing opportunities, your letters stated an unwavering optimism about the future of East Liberty and its surrounding neighborhoods. Late last week, REI shared their decision to locate at the Southside Works. Although we are disappointed to lose REI at the Eastside, please join us in letting REI know how glad we are that they are coming to Pittsburgh, and to wish them success at their proposed Southside Works location. REI's C.E.O. has written a letter to you about this decision and asked that I share it with you along with this update e-mail. REI indicated that the choice between the Eastside and the Southside Works was a difficult one. Each site offers different advantages to a retailer like REI. Your letters show an excitement about the Eastend, Whole Foods and the other emerging development projects. East Liberty Development Inc, the neighborhood-based community development corporation, and the private developers working in East Liberty have some very good ideas and leads for other retailers on the Eastend. We would like to hear more about your ideas about the kind of growth you want in the Eastend. If you have any ideas about specific tenants or uses that you see as opportunities, please send them our way. We will keep you informed of our process in building the Eastend. Again, thank you for your letters, Becky Mingo Executive Director, Friendship Development Associates Becky@friendship-pgh.org Rob Stephany Director of Real Estate, East Liberty Development Inc. robstephany@pop.mindspring.com Dear Friend of East Liberty, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation for your warm invitation to locate an REI store on the east side. After a thoughtful and careful analysis of what would work best for all of our customers in the city, we decided to locate a store in Southside Works. This is an exciting mixed-use development that reclaims an old steel mill site and should contribute to the economy and quality of life in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is sometimes called the "City of Bridges." Our store site is several miles from the East Liberty neighborhood--a few minutes by bicycle. We will be part of East Liberty community and will be working hard to serve all of our customers, current members and new members, who live there. Relationships with people and groups in the communities where we have stores are very important to REI. This has been true since we were founded as a consumer cooperative in 1938. We look forward to working with the community to increase opportunities and enhance great places for outdoor recreation in Pittsburgh. Plans call for the store to open in the spring of 2005. Please plan to join us in the Grand Opening celebration. Sincerely, Dennis Madsen President & CEO Recreational Equipment, Inc.