"why golly golly gumdrops we had no idea asshole mcbabyeater was a baby eating freak that wanted to eat our babies, we just thought he would let us dump out trash in the local pond and lower our taxes. We take full responsibility for this one, so we're going to start a branding coalition. Sorry, guys :("
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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A mistake like that gets people fired.
It is being called a mistake because it's costing them more money than they thought it would.
"We have many values, but the most valuable value to us is profit, far and away. As a business pursuing profit above all else, supporting this administration, and always being ready and willing to bootlick, anywhere, anytime, at a moments notice, was thought to be our best shot at the highest profitability possible for our members. Unfortunately, like most of the supporters of trump, his administration, and his best-picked people, we're left embarrassed, and holding a (figurative) bag of shit, with nothing to show for it except for smelly hands. Sorry. Can we get a do-over?"
"We have a problem considering everyone that buys our stuff are campers that camp at these parks. We totally did not see or hear anything about this and caught completely by surprise the administration was going to do this. The "Drill baby Drill" slogan we thought he was referring to drilling for profits in OTHER people's lands! Who are we going to sell all this crap to now?!"
The leopards have never seen such a buffet of faces to eat. Only the best buffets. The biggest. Buffets like nobody has ever seen before! Billions of faces. Ok I'll see myself out now.
No shit.
Yeah I have a friend from the UK who voted for Brexit. He regrets it now and I'm like: "WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?!"
Resign, they endorsed because they thought they would be the winners, turns out it wasn't the popular move they thought it was, now watch them burn.
Is it a new board because I'm pretty sure we all voted withhold.
"We just wanted to treat our employees like slaves! Why is he doing this to us?"
REI is corpo scum. They are not a co-op. This retraction is nice to hear but ultimately meaningless as long as they continue forcing corpo trash board candidates into their rigged board elections system.
Oh no. Anyways, still on my list of places not to buy.
Right? They cant have it both ways. Dine with a nazi and you’re a nazi. Simple as that.
Maybe once they recognize the union and give them everything they ask for. 'Til then they get none of my money.
On that note, the Union requests that all REI members (if you have an REI account, this means you) vote in the board election.
The union was backing two candidates for the board. The current board, however, has intentionally left the pro-union candidates off the ballot.
REI's union would like you to log in and vote "Withhold" for all three current candidates. It takes only a few minutes!
A "Withhold" majority vote would result in the candidates not joining the board.
Here are details on how to vote: https://www.ourrei.com/2025-rei-board-elections
To be able to vote, you must have made a purchase at REI in 2024 tied to your account.
Done! Wouldn't have bothered voting if I hadn't read your comment, so thanks for sharing. Voting was really easy, just had to enter my member number and zip code.
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Don't care. REI is dead to me.
Shop at Academy instead, they don't give to any political parties & their employees mostly give to non-Fascist groups.
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No shit, everybody knew Trump and his team of morons was exactly that - fucking morons.
don't forget corrupt
I though that fact was fairly obvious, but you're absolutely right.
This combined with them being anti union means I won't be shopping there for a while.
how you gonna call yourself a co-op and be anti-union
The board is cooperative with their bank accounts. 🙂
This is beyond not knowing their customer base. Where are people going to hike once national Parks are clear cut?
Doesn't matter, line went up.
I had no idea they endorsed Trump. I will never buy from them again.
They endorsed a Trump nominee, I thought. Or was still enough for me to vote withhold and I'm not likely to shop there until it's clear all the rot is removed.
Trumps entires presidency is a big oopsie
REI makes a large amount of money selling bikes which almost entirely come from China. This about-face is purely a reaction to tariffs and the Orange turd affecting their bottom line, not some moral epiphany.
So odd that REI put themselves with this group. They look very out of place in this group.
Here are the other signatories on that letter from January supporting Burgum:
- American Bus Association
- American Horse Council
- American Prairie
- American Sportfishing Association
- Archery Trade Association
- Association of Marina Industries
- Boat U.S.
- CHM Government Services
- Diving Equipment & Marketing Association
- Eddyline Kayaks
- International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association
- Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
- Motorcycle Industry Council
- National Forest Recreation Association
- National Marine Manufacturers Association
- National Park Hospitality Association
- National Ski Areas Association
- National Wild Turkey Federation
- Outdoor Hospitality Industry
- Outdoor Industry Association
- Paddlesports Trade Coalition
- PeopleForBikes
- Professional TrailBuilders Association
- Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association
- REI Co-op
- RV Dealers Association
- RV Industry Association
- Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals
- Specialty Equipment Market Association
- Specialty Vehicle Institute of America
- Sports & Fitness Industry Association
- The Corps Network
REI turned corporate or at least pro-corporate shortly after the pandemic. This all went down probably not coincidentally right after they hired an ex-Amazon exec, Cameron Janes, to be their "Chief Commercial Officer."
They're turning into another profit motivated shitshow and have become explicitly anti-union, hostile to their own labor, and also hostile to their own customers. They did this in the name of making more money, but given that it pissed off swath of their core customer base who are probably more vocal, left leaning, and activist than the average bunch of consumers who all quit buying from them, I'm pretty sure this wasn't a net gain.
I contacted their customer support and had them delete my account. I also sent them an email as to why, and stated I'd be telling everyone I know not to shop at REI.
Fuck them.
REI was already fully transitioned from a co-op to another big box store well before that.
REI has consistently hired executives and board members with backgrounds in traditional retail and other for-profit ventures since 2010.
They have chosen to run REI like their prior companies, focusing on margins and profitability rather than its primary responsibility, the members.
They have continued to open new stores and over extend themselves because profit must go up, though the main revenue generator for them is the membership fee. And because it is a one time fee, rather than recurring, they have to continue to open new stores to stay profitable.
On top of no longer acting like a co-op, REI has decided to fight its employees unionization efforts. Numerous REI stores have voted to unionize, and REI has refused to recognize the unions, in some cases for years at this point. REI has also hired notorious union- busting lawyers, removed PPE from repair shops, and illegally laid off dozens of individuals.
REI is now clearing house; laying off long term staff and replacing them with new, less expensive, and less knowledgeable employees. In 2010 the average camping department employee got 15+ hours of training; whereas by 2018 it was less than 4 hours.
REI is following exactly in the footsteps of Mountain Equipment Co-Op in Canada. Once on par with REI, MEC is just another shell of a company raped by private equity. And unfortunately for a lot of good people, I think REI will suffer a similar fate.
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I'm an REI member and I hadn't voted in a board election until this. I voted against all of them.
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Damn, even REI. The disappointments won't stop coming.
Not a case of "even REI." REI revealed themselves into just another boardroom full of bad guys in 2022 and have not improved since.
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