Weeks after the retailer shuttered its experiences business, REI on Wednesday announced that CEO Eric Artz will retire in March as part of a planned succession process. Mary Beth Laughton, a former REI board director and one-time Athleta CEO, will take on the role, per a press release emailed to Retail Dive.

"Eric has led and stabilized REI through some of the most challenging years the retail sector and our co-op ever faced. REI is in a strong position today because he always kept ou