Outdoor store REI Co-op is coming to Alabama, with a 20,000-square-foot store in MidCity Huntsville scheduled to open in the fall of 2019.

REI Huntsville will be located just off U.S. 72 at the north end of MidCity Huntsville, the $500 million redevelopment currently under construction on the 140-acre site of the former Madison Square Mall.

It also joins previously announced projects, such as Wahlburgers, Dave & Buster's, Topgolf, High Point Climbing & Fitness and Aloft Hotel. Pies & Pints last week announced it would locate a restaurant there.

The new REI Co-op will have direct access to MidCity Park, a 40-acre public space with a trail system, lakeside dock and outdoor amphitheater. The park and accompanying retail space is currently being developed by Huntsville-based RCP Companies, and is expected to be complete in 2019.

REI Huntsville joins 12 other REI stores in the South, with existing locations in Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The location also plans to work with local nonprofits to steward and maintain local trails and parks, as do other REI locations. This year, REI says it is investing $8.8 million in more than 400 nonprofit organizations across the country.

"Huntsville is a growing outdoor community with proximity to areas like Blevins Gap, Rainbow Mountain, the Tennessee River and Guntersville Lake," Gail Kirkland, REI retail director for the Southeast district, said. "With more than 11,000 active REI members in the state of Alabama, we are excited to continue to grow in the South and invest in this community."

Anyone can shop at REI, but the company is a member-owned co-op where members pay a lifetime $20 membership and share in the company's profits through an annual dividend. There are currently 3,500 members in the Huntsville area.