REI Suffers Massive Losses and Is In BIG Trouble - Outdoor News
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REI Suffers Massive Losses and Is In BIG Trouble - Outdoor News

Not surprised. Their house brand stuff was basically rip off copies but always had quality and a few options the copied product didn't have. The house brand prices would be as much as 25% cheaper than what they copied. I've shopped their off and on since the late 70's. Before the internet there wasn't much in the way of quality backpack gear out here.

One way they always isolated them selves was they tended to always be very political. They followed what ever the Sierra Club said to the letter. Their was a time when the Sierra Club openly spoke out about motorized travel and exploring. You wouldn't find anything advertising toward us. When overlanding became popular, I was surprised to see RTT's and then E-Bikes pop up. In the past, you would catch snippets of conversation regarding the "Evil" Off-Road crowd. A couple of times in my life I've been confronted by this type of person out driving. The first thought through my head was, I bet they shop at REI.

The diffrent off-road associations I belong to actively boycott them. It seemed all they wanted was college age backpackers. As the video pointed out, people today price shop. In todays market you cant expect an overpriced business to survive while keeping a radical political view.
 
REI has been priced high for a long time. I only shop there when I REALLY need something and don't have time for it to arrive from Amazon or Bass Pro
 
I do shop at REI, but you need to price match or they will make money on you that you wouldn't have paid elsewhere.
 
***Just dawned on me that my local store stopped price matching last year. Sorry about that, as I'm sipping my coffee and was thinking that it has ben a bit since I was over there, and the reason is they stopped price matching. I wasn't thinking.
 
REI prices are stupid high! And then each time when they have their BIG sales (LOL), their prices with the sale price for a brief period of time become competitively priced.
 
We like walking around in REI, but we buy we check on Amazons scan tool before we buy. If significantly higher price, we buy from Amazon.
 
Think about this: Inflation of everything, this includes commercial rental space. REI prices reflect their ability to pay rent, employees and all other expenses.
 
I like REI, but I'm careful on what I'm buying from them. Always price shop on pricier items. If I'm there, I'll always walk out with some freeze dried meals.
 
Funny seeing this as I was just talking to my wife about how it's a hit or miss when in REI. Sometimes there are crowds and other times is a ghostland in there.
 
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