Re. REI - Anybody notice? Anybody care?

[Matt]

Caveman,

It's all pointless spray

Just screaming into the wind

I want to go climb

It's sunny outside

And work is just another

Four letter word--- @#&*!

I mean no offense

Let us all pass the peace pipe

and climb a mountain

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by Yossarian:

All co-op's are for profit, why would one be formed otherwise?. They either return the profits to the members or re-invest them back in the company. There are no shareholders nor owners, just members.

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I dunno, REI seems to have gone after money making a lot more than MEC has. People up here are always worrying about MEC turning into REI which is funny because MEC was founded by people tired of driving down to Wash. every weekend to buy gear...

 

[mikeadam]

OH YEAH! Well WE'RE tired of driving to MEC to buy gear too! VALHALLA PURE baby!

Take that Canada...Did you notice that we made you an honorary member of the KTK? Posted your mug and everything

[This message has been edited by mikeadam (edited 08-08-2001).]

[Dan_Petersen]

No complaints about REI's product line, or capitalism in general. In comparing MEC to REI, I would suggest the difference may lie in management. REI has taken a path toward mainstream retailing and hired retailers to run the place. They know their business, but suffered under the same blinkered vision most management had the last few years, believing unlimited growth was a given. I also suspect they believe the standard retail axiom that you must grow or die. My opinion is that with a co-op that may not be as true as with a mainstream retailer, as your membership has a shared interest in your success that a retailer's clientele may not have. Maybe MEC has taken a more conservative tack regarding growth, which was the right answer for this year, anyway.

[Dru]

Fuckin' A I'm in the KTK!!! I will try and do the Klan proud and always piss on a bolt as I pass it by placing sketchy tied off and taped down hooks in opposition. And I will slam in pins on trade routes and laugh too! And make my partner carry the beer.

[verticalswamp]

Well from an amero-centric point of view fanny means ass, but go spend some time in Australia, and find out the true meaning. In fact, sit at a bar and try to pick up girls by suggesting they "plant your little fanny right here, darlin'."

bahahhahaahah

[Dru]

Yeah in most of the British Commonwealth outside Canada ('cause we were corrupted by you Yanks) the polite(!) term for one of those packs that goes around your waist is a "Bum Bag".

[chucK]

Back to the "Returnable Equipment Inventory" part of this thread:

REI has this policy because it sells gear for them. If you're hemming and hawing over buying something, the person helping you (on one of the rare times you EVER get ANY customer service at that place) will use their highly successful deal sealer,

"Just take it out to the hills. Try it out! If it doesn't work for you just bring it back."

When given that option, how can you go wrong? You buy the damn thing.

When I'm swayed by that pitch, I've entered into a contract. I'm damn sure not going to forfeit some of my value in the agreement; that is, I'll bring the sucker back if it displeases me (reasonable time, of course). We made a deal, me and REI. I gave them the money up front. They said I could take it back if I so DESIRED.

I agree with Erik though, that it is not right to purposefully "borrow" stuff.

By the way, has anybody noticed that they seem to be trying to slowly creep away from their "satisfaction guaranteed" policy?

Also it is worthwhile to note that other, way better, gear shops will often give you reasonable satisfaction guaranteed contracts if you ask 'em.

Chuck

[verticalswamp]

no caps cause i'm eating, but my understanding is that return on whim policy more than pays for itself.

add up quickly what you have actually returned on a whim, subtract what they ended up selling it to their employees for, (a la mec) and it probably doesn't really hurt them that bad. is it immoral? morality is largely a personal thing.

[Yahoo_sucks]

Besides, don't they get a good part of their wholesale cost back when they sell thier returns at the garage sales?

[This message has been edited by bjorn (edited 08-09-2001).]

[two_banana]

 

I interviewed for a couple development positions at REI last year. Part of the all day process involved going out to lunch with a couple big-wig, muckety-muck types whose job it was to make the (then) scarce software developer want to come work for them.

The conversation was very illuminating. Basically, they said the gear REI sells is secondary to the clothes, jackets, boots, and other "image" type items. People go to REI to buy a lifestyle. Buying a fleece jacket at a place that sells ice axes makes the consumer feel somehow connected to that lifestyle. They also said that REI would just assume stop selling most of their outdoor gear and focus on "branded" type items, exactly like Eddie Bauer or other stores of that ilk.

One major topic of conversation was the previous Christmas season when Gap spin-off Old Navy had heavily marketed what they called "Performance Fleece". Old Navy sold tons of the junk leaving REI with literal warehouses full of their own brand of junky fleece. REI considered fleece to be their turf and was alarmed by all the people who bought fleece elsewhere. The head of marketing told me that in the next few years REI is going to be more like Old Navy and less like the musty cavern that was their old store up on Pine.

Needless to say, they made my decision to turn down their offer very easy. Besides, almost no amount of employee discount is going to get me to haul my ass down to Kent every day.

[CascadeClimber]

I'd cheerfully take the old Capital Hill store over the crappy new "Ark of Consumerism". What a sad story.

[CascadeClimber]

Okay, I can't resist any longer. Here are a few of my recent experiences at REI:

- Went in to Seattle store to get a Trango Pyramid. Informed by looking, and confirmed by employee, that they have no belay devices in the store. Yes, none. As in no tubers, no eights, no plates, no nothing. The employee helpfully told me that they had 1,274 in the Sumner warehouse and offered to sell me a Munter hitch. Okay, the Munter part is BS.

- Went in to the Redmond store to replace a nut that was left fixed on Silk Degrees (Dru, can you grab that for me?). "Sorry, we don't stock Black Diamond nuts. But we have 2,745 of them in the Sumner warehouse. Would you like a cashew from my lunch instead? Okay, the cashew part is BS.

- Went in to the Seattle "Flagship" store to buy a three-layer Goretex jacket. Total selection: Zero. Helpful 16 year-old employee tells me that they have 282 in the Sumner warehouse. Offers to sell me a Hefty Steel sack with neck and arm-holes cut in. Okay, the Hefty part is BS.

- Went to the Redmond store to buy a passle of Neutrino biners on sale. Total stock: Zero. Told by salesperson, "Gee, we brought in fifty for the sale. I can't believe we sold them all. Let me look... Yes, we have 1,078 in the Sumner warehouse. Would you like some antimatter for your warp drive instead?" Okay, the antimatter part is BS.

- Going through the line in Seattle with a pile of air-dried meals. Clerk asks, "Hey, what is this stuff?" No BS. What more can I say?

- I write a letter to REI noting that they seem to have abandoned the people and purpose for which they were founded. Receive a nice note back telling me that they have a "new merchandising plan coming out in the Spring that will address your concerns." That was Spring of 2000.

REI: Really Eddiebauer Indisguise

-CC

[Dru]

You mean Silk Degrees actually touched down? or did you Mixed Climb like an Extreme Athlete through the rock overhang at the bottom?

Make Lyle get your nut and he can send it to me via house mail, and I'll get Adamson to smuggle it back across the border to ya.

[pope]

Haven't personally been in there in a while. Do they still sport little green vests with 28 pockets? Although they frequently fail to stock the mountaineering equipment I'm looking for, I will say that they reliably have some of the most clever, novel little stocking-stuffers around: smoked salmon, packaged to proudly represent the ambiance of the NW; neat little mountaineering board games; a sport-climber's starter kit, where all the neon and anodized highlights are guaranteed to match; stove-top espresso machines with Ed Visteur's autograph; etc.

[CascadeClimber]

No touchdown, not even a safety. My partner led the rock section (if you can call that crumbly shit rock- and I thought Cascades rock was loose) in his Scarpas and I trembled up on TR in my rando boots:

More pics here, near the bottom of the page:

http://cascadeclimber.com/lillooet_feb_20-22,_2001.htm

-CC

[This message has been edited by CascadeClimber (edited 08-09-2001).]

[Dru]

Wow that's pretty cool Loren. I was looking at trying that last winter but partners were not so keen. Looks fun! I like that choss climbing with plastics on. will have to try it in 6 months.