[pct-l] REI

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

I remember when Patagonia was all wooden bins, too. And it was called  
Great Pacific Ironworks.

Here is my REI story.

I went to REI in Seattle for some new shoes. I walked in with my  
stained hiking clothes and my current pair of hole-infested running  
shoes. I told the shoe guy I wanted some lightweight, breathable,  
mesh running shoes. He came back with a stack a mile high of boxes of  
leather hiking boots. When I insisted that I wanted running shoes and  
pointed to a pair that I wanted to try, he brought them out and  
basically washed his hands of me. I could get no more help in the  
shoe department the rest of the afternoon.

I got the sense that it really is about "lifestyle" or "image" and  
that they just don't get it. Especially they don't get lightweight  
hiking.

But they aren't all bad. A year before that I got a great backpack  
from them. But maybe they were more helpful because I wanted  
something more "normal."