REI

[SoCalJim]

Just saw this Reddit discussion today in a news story about the REI Black Friday closure. It was 16 days ago and I don't know how I've missed hearing about it. If the complaints and criticisms of employees is true (and I haven't seen it strongly refuted), it makes me feel a whole lot less warm and fuzzy about REI. It's pretty much been my go-to outdoor store though I've taken advantage of many sales and discounts from a number of other retailers. I'm going to have to reconsider my loyalty now. https://m.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3s ... e_closing/

[RichardK]

REI is not much different than any other retailer. The NY Times just ran a story blasting Amazon as a hellhole. I just retired from 13 years in retail. I was insulated from the store environment because I worked in I.T. The economy has not truly recovered from the recession. Good jobs are still hard to find and profit margins are slim. Customers spend at traditional times like back-to-school and holiday, but tighten the purse strings the rest of the year. Retailers squeeze where ever they can and store employees get a big dose of it because they are most easily replaced. You can find someone to stand behind a counter faster than someone to run a computer network. That is just a fact of the business world. Anyone who plans a life of working in a retail store needs to think again. Learn something, anything, that most people don't know how to do. It's all supply and demand.

[halhiker]

Sounds like typical whiny former employees to me. Retail is retail. It's stocking products and selling. Seems like people didn't want to sell memberships. It's not a club. If the boss says sell memberships then sell them. It's not a big deal.