Since (IIUC from Wikipedia) REI is a member-owned co-op that elects the board of directors, does this decision to do layoffs reflect the interests of the members?
REI has been a co-op in name only for a number of years now.
At least a decade IMO.
REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
41–50 of 132 posts
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#42Wow. Interesting discussion there. I have spent a few thousand bucks at rei over the past 10 years. I rarely if ever ask for assistance. The value add for me is the return and warranty policy, and knowing if REI sells it it's probably high quality. The more experienced people are also the most natural and kind, where others seem less committed and less "of the hobby". Layoffs suck. Good luck to all of them.
Once one is familiar enough with the brands that REI stocks and that are regarded as quality, nowadays those same brands can be bought, often for much cheaper, from other online retailers. Not with the same generous return policy, but still, it is harder for REI to compete compared to two decades ago when they were the only chain around for quality camping gear.
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#43How socialist is REI really? Are they like Mondragon? Seems not — workers do not own the company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REI_worker_organization I like experiments in having employees actually own companies, or make their own decisions, but the closest I see in the consumer facing sector is stuff like REI or Valve software maybe — and that is only at the pleasure of its actual owners. By contrast, HOAs and hou…
It's a $30 fee for lifetime discounts. A co-op by way of self description rather than by cooperation.
How’s that different than something like Costco or BJ’s
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious about this opinion, and I don't want to make a snarky joke. Can you elaborate how you camp without needing any gear?
“Ultralight” backpacking favors skills rather than gear. Folks have done entire 3k mile thru hikes with 5lbs of gear. The main way you get that low is simply by not taking much with you. You carry only the essentials. I don’t know if this is what the parent poster was referring to but it’s what my mind went to.
5lbs of gear is 5lbs of gear. And this seems like an extreme example - have you done 3k mile thru hikes on 5lbs of gear? What does that look like?
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#45What is REI?
REI stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc. (https://www.rei.com/) Unless that was a rhetorical question.
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious about this opinion, and I don't want to make a snarky joke. Can you elaborate how you camp without needing any gear?
“Ultralight” backpacking favors skills rather than gear. Folks have done entire 3k mile thru hikes with 5lbs of gear. The main way you get that low is simply by not taking much with you. You carry only the essentials. I don’t know if this is what the parent poster was referring to but it’s what my mind went to.
In my experience, the ultralight gear is the most expensive of all
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#47How socialist is REI really? Are they like Mondragon? Seems not — workers do not own the company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REI_worker_organization I like experiments in having employees actually own companies, or make their own decisions, but the closest I see in the consumer facing sector is stuff like REI or Valve software maybe — and that is only at the pleasure of its actual owners. By contrast, HOAs and hou…
Not even close, labor isn't protected here at all so it's a total misnomer
It's a CONSUMERS CO-OP, has nothing to do with real labor organizing
It's capitalism's attempt at providing security to consumers (rather than simply landlords) against producers and laborers.
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#48Wow. Interesting discussion there. I have spent a few thousand bucks at rei over the past 10 years. I rarely if ever ask for assistance. The value add for me is the return and warranty policy, and knowing if REI sells it it's probably high quality. The more experienced people are also the most natural and kind, where others seem less committed and less "of the hobby". Layoffs suck. Good luck to all of them.
Once one is familiar enough with the brands that REI stocks and that are regarded as quality, nowadays those same brands can be bought, often for much cheaper, from other online retailers. Not with the same generous return policy, but still, it is harder for REI to compete compared to two decades ago when they were the only chain around for quality camping gear.
>nowadays those same brands can be bought, often for much cheaper, from other online retailers.
Usually MSRP is constant across retailers. Is there an example you can easily bring up? If there's a price for an item that's too good to be true, it's usually a scam website.
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately there's nothing amiss here: it's inherently in the interests of the consumers who own the co-op to exploit the workers who work there.
I guess that’s true :/ Of course I know it is a consumer co-op as a member but for some reason I’d always thought about it as pro worker because I associate “co-op” generally with the labor movement. Worker co-ops would be of course but that’s not the case here.
That's the whole scam
They use the good name of a COOP to get people to think that they are a good organization, when in fact they are just like every other blood sucking corporation out there - but worse cause they hide their intentions.
Re: REI is Laying Off 275 Employees
#50Since (IIUC from Wikipedia) REI is a member-owned co-op that elects the board of directors, does this decision to do layoffs reflect the interests of the members?
> Board candidates are selected by the REI Board Nomination and Governance Committee. In earlier years, board elections were competitive elections, with both board-nominated and self-nominated petition candidates. In recent years, REI eliminated the opportunity for petition candidates and has nominated only as many candidates as open positions.
Emphasis mine. Sounds like OfSanguineFire's comment is right. The Governance committee decides how the company is run and members don't have a choice of candidates besides rejecting them.
From Wikpedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REI