[pct-l] Re: Rei

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@xxxxxxx)]

In a message dated 6/8/03 12:59:47 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
calliger@infolane.com writes:

<<  would vote for this rather than REI; as Jim Whittaker,
 as you all probably know by now, was thrown out of
 REI and that whole thing has left a very bad taste in
 my mouth after meeting and talking this over with him
 and reading his book...
  >>
But I would think you would like REI since they had the"wisdom" to give Jim 
the boot. 
  One should know that Whittaker claims he left because REI was becoming just 
another clothing store and was drifting away from their climbing roots. He 
also said he was tired of office work. Maybe they did force him out and he said 
all that to save face. Really makes no difference to me since I wasn't 
involved and there are two sides to every disagreement. They were probably wise to 
expand into other outdoor fields.Otherwise they never would have become the 
giant outdoor retailer that they are. The other side of the story is that they try 
to sell gear that appeals to the masses due to the efficiency of mass 
production. Hence the lack of emphasis on lightweight backpacking. After all they are 
thinking about the bottom line, just like any other business and the bigger 
you are, the more revenue you need to make a profit