REI

[Bob Gross]

I was strolling through the REI store, and I noticed a progressive merchandising concept. They are pushing more and more electronic devices, e.g. GPS receivers, heart-rate monitors, portable weather stations, LED tent lighting. There is always a good markup in electronic crap.

Then, once the unwitting consumer has his mind wrapped around this new gadget, he is going to need power to run it. So REI has plenty of flashlight batteries and solar chargers to sell to you. More markup there.

Lastly, once you get your gadgets and the necessary power, you will need a new backpack in order to haul everything. Still more markup.

–B.G.–

[Jake D]

Most people aren't taking it more than 20mi from the road so no big deal.

they are in the business of making money. they wouldn't carry it if people didn't buy it.

when i worked at EMS i sold a lady a fancy altimeter watch for her husband because she liked how it looked. he was a kayaker. I told her he wouldn't use many of the features and she said that was ok.

[Dave P]

You're not the only one who noticed, Bob.

The Stuff We Carry: Hunting Gear, Then and Now

[James holden]

I think its GREAT that MEC sells electronics

Any electronic device can fail, and unlike clothes you cant just break out the needle and thread

Shipping back to the manufacturer is a biatch

And for some outdoor electronics might be something you only use sparingly … A GPS could have issues for example after 2 years, but only been having say used twice and be out of warranty

In fact i may well pay MORE than i could find elsewhere just for that MEC warranty for such items

;)

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I don't know that REI is "pushing" electronics. I think everybody just likes electronics.

I have this theory that gear is a proxy for the thing we want to go and do. We can't be out doing it all the time, so the gear fills in before and after the trip, provides hits of pleasure as we fantasize about the coming or past event. The gear proxy comes with the added benefit that it's all the pleasure without any of the pain and discomforts of the actual activity.

Electronic gadgets do this especially well since you can just sit there with the gadget going over your data for hours. And the gadget proxy has the additional benefit of coming with you on the activity and potentially mitigating some of the risk, or at least enhancing the trip with data to geek out over.

[Dave P]

Electronics sort of play into the whole "pack your fear".

Don't have a satellite phone? Well, my workplace has one and everyone should be able to borrow one from their bosses! Don't work for the oil fields? Tough luck, BUY ONE OR YOU'RE IRRESPONSIBLE. If you can't afford a satellite phone, then people without disposable income shouldn't bother going out AT all.

Maps? Who need maps. They can't tell where you are. If you don't get a GPS, you're going to get LOST!

SPOT? Don't have one? TEXT US EVERY DAY SO WE KNOW YOU'RE SAFE.

Bring the cellphone. SPOT is very unreliable, don't you know that? Better have a backup.

Oh, don't forget that solar charger. If you don't text us every hour, we will call SAR.

Don't forget the weather radio! You need to make sure you're warned of approaching forest fires! After all, it is the dry season.

Oh, and carry a two-way radio so we know you're safe when you're leaving the trailhead.

Exaggerations of course. but that's kind of the attitude I got from my peers and family.

I have most of these, but um…

Weather radios stay in the truck. Sorry, it's too heavy for me to warrant it for a two weeks trip. Maybe if I am staying in the same areas for days at times.. MAYBE.

Two-way radios are unreliable and PLBs do much better job. Besides, I ain't moose-hunting. Smartphones are a luxury only for uploading pictures and journal entries to the Internet. Solar charger… well… I am not going on a 3 months expedion where I won't see people for ages. GPS fails, so it's best to have maps. Actually, GPS are damn useless and a watch is much more beneficial.

So, yeah, electronics is a great business model for outdoors company. Potential for major money-making.

And to think that camping is supposed to be the most economically accessible outdoor recreational hobbies out there….

[Sean Westberg]

"SPOT? Don't have one? TEXT US EVERY DAY SO WE KNOW YOU'RE SAFE."

Every day? Heh if only my family was that relaxed. If I go for a walk anywhere not paved I either get an hour long effort to talk me out of it beforehand or two hours of examples of how I could have died afterwards because I didn't go in a minimum group of 4. Spot is a small price to pay to get those hours of my life back.

[Bob Moulder]

Spot is a small price to pay to get those hours of my life back.

+1

Haven't gotten a bit of grief from my wife since getting one, but she requires one location message in the morning and one in the evening.

There ya go… 4.3oz of marital bliss. :^)

[Steven Hanlon]

i went to REI Sunday, i left with a map set for the Catskills. not much in REI interests me anymore. BPL, you have ruined REI :(

[Paul Magnanti]

As I have mentioned before, Mrs Mags spent her formative years on the more restrictive side of the Iron Curtain. The idea of being tracked, or tracking someone, is a bit different than what most of us think.

She requests a rough plan (knowing darn well it is indeed rough) and a call when I am done with the trip.

I am thankful for that mindset…

[Nick Gatel]

"She requests a rough plan (knowing darn well it is indeed rough) and a call when I am done with the trip"

It appears the Paul and I both married perfect women. I feel sorry for most of the rest of you ;-)

[Bob Moulder]

BPL, you have ruined REI :(

Pretty much the same here. Except for some clothing and consumables it's mostly cottage gear, though I'd buy Montbell stuff if they carried it. I have bought some sleeping pads there, and I still buy Esbit and isobutane canisters there. Even with the Mtn House food that I like, I've started ordering the #10 cans from Amazon.

But I don't think they'll miss us. UL still represents a comparatively tiny market and lots of folks are still carrying pretty hefty loads even though there is some UL trickle-down into trad gear. Very rarely see another ULer in the woods up here.

[Ken Thompson]

"Very rarely see another ULer in the woods up here."

+1, kinda weird when you do. Have to ask about BPL.

[Austin]

"Very rarely see another ULer in the woods up here."

"+1, kinda weird when you do. Have to ask about BPL."

I was doing some camping in Flagstaff and saw from afar a ZPacks Hexamid that was set up, but this potentially being my first time meeting another ULer in person, I got weirded out and set up my own cuben fiber far away from him/her. In hindsight, I think it would have been awesome face-to-face talking about BPL and UL with someone else who understands our morbid fascination with cuben fiber/Golite/quilts…

[Sean Westberg]

"I have bought some sleeping pads there, and I still buy Esbit and isobutane canisters there. Even with the Mtn House food that I like, I've started ordering the #10 cans from Amazon. "

That REI charges 10 bucks for a Mtn House that costs at most 7 dollars everywhere else galls me. Yeah sure you get a buck or two back in a year but after that they're still more expensive.

But yeah I am thinking and aside from the atmos I bought this year just to see what the fuss was about I think most/all of my kit is heading in the way of cottage industry. And I'm really okay with that.

REI still probably has better shoes and socks outside of going online though.

[Don Morris]

I suppose I am an REI fan. I have been a member for more than fifty years (5 digit membership number) and I remember them from days working in N. Arizona when they were the only realistic source for carabiners, real climbing rope, and decent outdoor gear like down bags and tents. REI wasn't a cottage industry in its origins. They had to make do with a garage. Starting small and growing very big, they must be doing something right. I have found over the years that nearly all of their inventory is decent gear, although that doesn't mean that I would purchase it. Selling gear at "high markups"? Is that a sin? We have a more or less free market economy. Buy what you want, where you want. I buy a lot of my gear elsewhere, as well as being a fairly regular REI patron. I like to think I am a fairly rational consumer. I do appreciate REI's environmental stance and their local support of cleanup efforts. Employees are evidently treated fairly well. All in all,I am glad they are around, along with many other niche marketers supplying those of us in cottages…

[HeathP]

I don't buy much backpacking gear from REI anymore, however climbing, mountaineering, kayaking, clothing, actually trying shoes on (then buying online because they are cheaper elsewhere). There are ton of great things about REI. Do I shop there exclusively for any of this, no. I get some significant discounts at other retailers who offer Veterans discounts so they get a lot of my business but if I need to see something new and not cottage made in person I always head to REI.

[Rick Reno]

"…actually trying shoes on (then buying online because they are cheaper elsewhere)." Really?

[HeathP]

Yes, really. Why buy shoes at REI for $129 when I can get them elsewhere for $70. I have wide feet and it's difficult to find shoes that fit. Also buying and returning multiple pairs online can get quite expensive.

[Franco Darioli]

Having people going into REI just to try out shoes can also get expensive (for REI…)

[HeathP]

I have 3 small children. My wife let's me hike one weekend a month(If that) and one long hike a year. I buy a new pair of trail shoes every two years. My trying on the seasons newest shoes and figuring out which ones fit my feet every two years isn't effecting REI's sales at all. Last time I ordered shoes from Zappos, Amazon, Campsaver, Sierra Trading Post and REI. After having lost a significant amount of money shipping shoes back because none fit my feet as I have wide feet and a medical condition that makes finding shoes that don't hurt my feet very difficult I decided to try a different way of finding shoes that works for me. Have you seen REI's sales and growth numbers? REI is doing fantastic. http://www.seattletimes.com/business/retail/rei-climbs-to-new-heights-with-record-sales/ I spend plenty of money on other items; food, climbing equipment, clothes, car racks, etc… My dividend has been significant for the 15 years I've been a Co Op member (except the 5 years I lived in Japan, then I spent too much money at Montbell stores). How about we use a little HYOH sense here and not be judging others. Have a great weekend.

[Billy Ray]

"Why buy shoes at REI for $129 when I can get them elsewhere for $70. I have wide feet and it's difficult to find shoes that fit. Also buying and returning multiple pairs online can get quite expensive." So you cause REI the expense instead. I call that ripping off REI. Wish you would be more considerate. That expense you are causing REI is an expense to all us members. It's okay if you go in with the understanding that you may buy the shoes you're trying on. But if you know ahead that you're going to order them elsewhere and not buying at REI… well… shame on you. I do the opposite. I research things on the web and then see if I can buy them locally. Even if it cost more as I live in a small town and like to support the local stores. Local Stores, local jobs. If you don't support local stores and REI then these resources will dry up and you won't like that. Billy

[BlackHatGuy]

"So you cause REI the expense instead." I'm not seeing how. REI doesn't move a pair of shoes to discount because someone tried them on. Lots of folks go into REI and try on shoes, and then don't buy them because they didn't like the fit, etc. It's not causing REI any extra expense. They don't buy a bunch of shoes that are used solely for people to try on. If their buyers are any good, they're buying and stocking the store using past sales data as a guide, not past try-on data. Y'all can keep trying to impress your particular ethics on Heath all you want, but your particular ethics aren't the world guide for everyone to follow.

[HeathP]

You know who is ripping off REI? The folks that come in every time I am in there and try and return some beat up destroyed product they abused because of REI's return policy(Which isn't what it once was because of this very reason). I don't return purchases. If I don't like something I either sell it on ebay or on the gear swap here. When I use the ship to the store option to try on shoes you do realize that these items are not put on a UPS truck and delivered to the store. They can take 5-7 days to arrive on the normal delivery truck that goes to my local REI. If I choose to not buy the shoes from REI then I'm guessing they stay in the local stock until they are sold. Which is of ZERO harm to REI's bottom line. You know what bothers me more? Watching REI sales reps upsale people on heavy, expensive gear they do not need and probably will never use. Rampant wasteful western consumerism is more offensive to me. To your second point, shopping local; Buying at your local REI is not "supporting local business" REI is a nationwide chain that made over $2 Billion dollars last year. The only thing local about that is the state and city taxes you pay when you shop there. There are no local outdoors stores within an hour of my house except REI and one guy who mostly rents gear to tourists (I buy tyvek from him). I live in the desert not a hiking mecca like Boulder or Seattle. I made a conscious decision 6 years ago when I moved back to the USA to in any instance we can to support local businesses; That means locally owned hardware stores over home depot, we only eat at locally owned restaurants, no chains ever. We shop at local grocery stores, farmers markets, local bakeries, local mechanics, and on and on… I try and buy things that are made in the USA when possible or within my budget. I'd say other than clothing, stove, headlamp, shoes and a few other items all my gear is now cottage made. Have a good weekend Billy

[Justin Baker]

It's not really an expense for REI if you go in when they aren't busy. Then it's just giving the bored sales associates something to do. I work at a local shop that sells hiking footwear and I don't really care if someone comes in to try shoes on and buy online as long as they aren't asking for advice and having me fit them into the right shoe, then it's just wasting my time. If they're coming in when I am helping multiple customers and they try to get in depth advice out of me and not planning on buying in the store, then we have a problem.

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