[pct-l] REI

[Bill Burge]

I know what you mean.  I was in high school when the first REI came to  
the Los Angeles area.

I was in hog heaven!  I used to have to mail order places just to get  
catalogs, in order to mail order climbing and camping gear.  There  
were a few, small, specialty stores where I could get some climbing  
gear at high prices.  Then REI came.

Bins of gear from companies I had only read about (none of them REI,  
they had NO house brand at that point), push a shopping cart through  
rows of plywood bins full of sleeping bags, tents, climbing ropes,  
etc.  Almost all of the stuff was what no person of the day would be  
caught DEAD wearing at the mall!  ;-)

Then it changed.  Blame Banana Republic, or LL Bean or whoever.  Rain  
parkas began showing up with a with a "form fitting cut", good luck  
getting any "layers" under that!  Tents became "last year's model" and  
only the colors had changed.  Prices went up and the REI house brand  
came in to offer some sort of sanity to the pricing and a greater  
"cut" for REI (different kind of "cut").

I still have my first Patagonia "pile" jacket (now called "fleece").   
NO ONE (including Patagonia) makes an insulating layer like it.  It  
looked AND FELT like big swatches of deep pile carpet sewn together to  
keep you warm.  It's UUUUUUUUgly.  It's WWWAAAAAAAAARM!  (Too warm, I  
run hot and had to be butt deep in snow, with only a t-shirt under it,  
to not sweat in this thing! But my GF's have loved it!  It's been  
through a few, I always make sure I get it back... ;-)

Oh, and the yuppie quotient?!?!  You should have seen the looks on  
some of them when I told them I was going to use the gear for  
Jeeping!  I was actually treated poorly at one REI when I told them I  
would be using the gear for shooting and hunting!  OMG.

I still shop at REI, it does make me sad sometimes.  I have REI number  
680###.

BillB



On Oct 27, 2009, at 10:52 AM, Jeffrey Olson wrote:

> I lived in Seattle in the late 80s through the 90s.  I used to enjoy
> going to the flagship store on 12th street I think it was.  It was  
> very
> funky, very Seattleish.  I really liked the bins of used/returned gear
> that was like 90% off.
>
> Then, in the late 90s, the REI world changed.  They built this
> multi-million dollar building with gravel paths to test mountain  
> bikes,
> and big spaces.  No longer could I find the bins of used/returned  
> gear.
> Those two things signaled the death of the "Co-op" principle if you  
> ask
> me.  I lived in Laramie, WY for a number of years and traveled to
> Denver.  The REI store there has waterfalls, the gravel path, multiple
> levels and again - no real deals that I could find...
>
> Things change - corporatization mostly driving change it seems.
>
> Jeffrey Olson
> Martin, SD
>
> Paul Magnanti wrote:
>> Wow...I seem to have struck a nerve with people based on some  
>> private e-mails. :)
>>
>> Look, if someone gave me an REI gift card, I'd gladly buy something  
>> there.
>> (Anyone? Anyone?)
>>
>> But, to ignore the  *main* customer base is not to understand "REI  
>> as lifestyle comment" I made.
>>
>> I can't help it...I have a sarcastic sense of humor. Back in the  
>> Northeast, we called it "normal". ;)
>>
>> If the REI comment offended people, replace with LL Bean, Eddie  
>> Bauer, Patagonia, etc.etc.etc.
>>
>> Now, here's a clip of rainbows, sunshine and lollipops to make you  
>> all happy:
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2sKH8yjVsM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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