[pct-l] more r.e.i.

[jmertes at verizon.net (John Mertes)]

Very interesting and informative article about REI.  Some points to ponder:

*   There's more than one way for a company to go astray.  I was a 
member of the Berkeley (food etc.) Coop back in the 1970's. That 
organization went bust because it paid too little attention to selling 
what customers wanted. And it ceased to be competitive with other 
supermarkets.

* How many of us will pay more for something because it is made in an 
union shop in the USA rather than in a sweatshop elsewhere?

*  How many times have people gone to the store with the good 
informative sales people to find out what they needed and then went 
elsewhere to buy the product cheaper?

Will REI: morph into another big corporation? Will REI loose its 
competitive edge and go into terminal decline as it becomes more and 
more like any other big retailer? Only the future wll tell.

John