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Ireneo_Funes

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Posts posted by Ireneo_Funes

    REI - The Evil Empire

    in Local Gear Shops

    Posted

    Ok. I've read many of these rants before and since an actual employee has not stepped in to voice their opinion yet on this thread, I will. I've been an REI employee for 5 years now and have had my ups and downs there. I've actually had a "conversation" with my management about using the term "Evil Empire" in an email at work. Someone had mentioned they treat their employees like crap. My management totally went to bat for me and kept me from getting fired. They talked about how they could relate at times but that is part of the reality of retail. I wouldn't make statements like yours based upon the observations of your lazy, stoner friend who couldn't show up to work on time. Is REI getting out of climbing? Of course they are to some extent. The members that used to be putting up FAs and climbing hard are now into comfort bikes and Nalgenes for their grandkids. Is that REI's fault. No. Also, as a retailer, they've got to go where the money is, and climbers as a group don't drop the same type of change as the rest of the population, thus the cheezy pink Nalgenes and bone shaped keychain carabiners. If you want to whine about somebody selling out, look at the climbing population for not better voicing their opinions. Here is a very passionate community that obviously has strong feelings and the result is nothing but a new REI sucks thread every other week. By the way the REI sucks thread from a while back was great except the fact that the original poster's story had no basis in truth. I work with several of the people he got help from and they are quality people. Bottom line: it was his fault. Anyways back to my original ranting. Want to get somebody nominated to the board? Get petitions from members. Something like 10,000 are required but hey, you've got one good internet forum here and there's others out there as well. Another reason for climbing gear shrinking in the stores is just that. Shrink. That's the term in retail for when product mysteriously vanishes. Is soccer mom and latte dad swiping cams? Those bastards!! No, it's climbers. And you're not screwing the man when you're walking out with stolen gear. You're pissing off other climbers because it makes it that much harder to keep those things around. I have a hard time justifying keeping our best selling cam, BD Camalots in store because they have a sell/steal ratio of about 3:1. Not very good on an item that costs a lot to buy from BD in the first place. REI being a co-op, and it is, doesn't have the cash to expand like you're all talking about. Opening 4-6 stores a year is not out of control, money grubbing expansion. It's conservative, make sure we're in buisness 50 years from now expansion. We were hit very hard with this crap of a winter we just had and only through smart choices and savvy leadership will this not greatly affect our end of year results. And where does that great leadership come from. Those "over-paid" executives that we swiped from other big retailers because they wanted to come work somewhere with great people who's only purpose at work is to get more people out and playing. Does that mean pushing high-margin product. Yes. Does that mean hassling you on the membership signup? Yes. Why? Because the only dollars for expansion come from the membership sale. Did you sign up for your membership in the original location? If not then shut up. Without that location being opened near you, you'd never have signed up, and maybe you don't shop there anymore and you hate the place but at some point that store got you excited and motivated to go outside. We're trying to do that same thing for people on the east coast. Hell only 5% of the Puget Sound is an REI member. Most of those other people will never get outside but their chances drastically increase if they are an REI member, so quit being so selfish and crying about REI changing and begin realizing that it still has the same purpose, it just doesn't quite suit you anymore. Do we sell the high-end, advanced climbing equipment anymore? No, but our customer doesn't want that. They want family camping tents and Nalgenes. Special order all the climbing crap you want and believe me we'll take notice and hopefully get more in store. I've been where you're at and totally pissed but it was usually because I didn't understand all the details. I read the Seattle Weekly article and was pissed as well, but it always comes back to the fact that we don't serve our members very well if we're out of buisness in a couple years. Sometimes that means decisions that you don't like but hey that's why we pay Dennis $1 million a year and not you!

     

    Ahh, I feel much better. Seriously though, rather than us piss and moan back and forth at each other, I'd rather try and answer or find answers to specific concerns. I'd rather there was someone to let you guys know how things work on the other side of the Gore-Tex curtain than you go off on misinformed rages that potentially ward off people who might benefit from being an REI member. Please PM me if there's something we wronged you on or that you want to know more about and I'll try and be a better or less abrasive conduit than you've had in the past. Hope this all helps more than hurts.

     

    Dude you expect me to read some masive paragraph...get real wazzup.gif

     

    So how do you like working at Nordstroms anyway???

     

    Note to would-be ranters: use paragraph breaks. They're not just for professionals!

    Beta on Elephant's Perch?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    do you recommend a windshirt??

    441591-rub-remixcd.jpg

     

    Nolse's been waiting for someone to say "windshirt" or "lost biner" or "girth pillar" just so he could use that image!

     

    But seriously -- Nolse's right about the Finger of Fate. It's super fun.

     

    If you're looking for an easier route up the perch, Lopez mentions a 5.3 route up the NW shoulder, and I think that you can fourth-class the N side. But the mountaineer's route looks really fun. It's on my list for this summer too.

    sucky covers of songs

    in Spray

    Posted

    Manfred Mann's Earth Band cover of "Blinded by the Light"

     

    Easily the worst cover of all time. And for some reason, it's got way heavier rotation than the original -- which, like every song on "Greetings from Asbury Park NJ," is sublime.

     

    Good cover? The Clash's version of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves." Better than the original, even without the falsetto stylings.

    new word

    in Spray

    Posted

    "Tup" is probably a variation of "top" (as a verb).

     

    Seen here in Othello, Act 1, Scene 1:

     

    IAGO:

    'Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on

    your gown;

    Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;

    Even now, now, very now, an old black ram

    Is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise;

    Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,

    Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:

    Arise, I say.

     

    Here's the real linguistic mystery: is this 17th century relic the ancestor of our modern-day "schtupp"?

    Rocky Butte

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    There are two fun cracks to the right of Silver Bullet Bluff, just to the right of Fandango, which is a very exciting lead. The one on the far right is called Superman .7? and I can't remember the one in the middle, but the one in the middle is a sweet little gem. You can lead it with a small handful of nuts and then set a top rope up off the tree at the top.

     

    Is that "Jack of Hearts"? I remember climbing a 5.9 crack in that area with some kind of card-playing name. I was on a toprope, the crack seemed thin and a little tricky to protect.

     

    Jack of Hearts is fun, but I think the route Sketchfest is talking about is to the right of it. I thought it looked like a neat line but haven't tried it yet.

     

    The pockmarked face to the left of Jack of Hearts has a challenging balancey problem that spanked me pretty good last time I was there.

    Dead

    in Spray

    Posted

    Well, if I can score a cool pair of suspenders like that I'll start wearing my knickers cragging. That'd turn some heads at Smith.

    Plastic Boots

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Those "voting" for leathers are doing so on the basis of a much heavier leather boot in winter.

     

    Yeah, exactly. I have a pair of heavier leather boots that I take on snow climbs that suit me much better than the plastics I've tried. Everyone's opinion is going to be different on this. Sounds like your feet get cold easy, so you'll probably prefer plastics.

     

    I've known a few folks who threw a lot of money away on plastic boots that they didn't really need, just 'cause they thought that they had to have 'em.

    knolwedgable outdoor professionals coming to bend

    in Oregon Cascades

    Posted

    I think you mean Jantzen Beach. It moved to the Pearl--which is ridiculously inconvenient.

     

    Convenient enough for the REI target market. I think it fits right in.

     

    OK, here's a question for you all. When did sandals start costing almost as much as hiking boots? I went in to the Pearl REI last week to get a new pair of Tevas (or similar) and they didn't have anything less than $90. confused.gif

     

    My real question - where can I buy some cheap sandals in Portland?

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