Question 1

What is REI?

Accepted Answer

REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) is America's largest outdoor retail consumer cooperative, a unique business structure where customers become member-owners by paying a one-time $30 lifetime membership fee. With approximately 24 million lifetime members, 180+ retail stores across the United States, and annual revenue reaching $4 billion as of 2024, REI stands as a pillar of the outdoor recreation industry. Unlike traditional retailers driven purely by shareholder profits, REI operates as a co-op where members receive an annual dividend—typically around 10% of their purchases—creating a virtuous cycle that rewards loyalty and outdoor enthusiasm. The company sells a comprehensive range of outdoor gear spanning camping, hiking, cycling, climbing, snow sports, and water activities, with its private-label REI Co-op brand representing roughly 40% of total sales and delivering higher profit margins. E-commerce accounts for approximately 30% of sales, complementing the experiential brick-and-mortar stores that often feature climbing walls and community event spaces. Employing over 15,000 people, REI has cultivated an employee-owned culture with profit-sharing programs that align staff interests with member satisfaction. The cooperative model, established in 1938 and maintained for nearly nine decades, positions REI as something more than a retailer—it's a community of outdoor enthusiasts pooling resources to make quality gear more accessible while championing environmental stewardship and equitable outdoor access.

Question 2

When was REI founded?

Accepted Answer

REI was founded in 1938 in Seattle, Washington, born from a simple frustration that would revolutionize outdoor retail in America. That year marked the beginning of a cooperative movement sparked by a steep price disparity: quality ice axes cost $5 in the United States but only $1 when purchased directly from manufacturers in Europe. For serious mountaineers tackling the challenging peaks of the Cascade Range and Mount Rainier, this pricing gap represented a significant barrier to pursuing their passion safely. The founding moment came when 23 Seattle-area climbers pooled their resources to place a $50 bulk order for ice axes directly from Austria, bypassing expensive American retailers and importers. This inaugural purchase established the core principle that would define REI for generations: by joining together as a cooperative, outdoor enthusiasts could access quality equipment at fair prices while building a community of like-minded adventurers. The original membership fee was just $1, and the dividend model—refunding 10% of purchases to members—was established from day one. The Seattle flagship store became a gathering place for Pacific Northwest mountaineers, creating not just a retail outlet but a hub for trip planning, gear advice, and shared outdoor culture. From those humble beginnings focused on climbing-specific equipment like Vibram soles, pitons, and ropes, REI would grow into a national institution while never abandoning the cooperative principles established in that founding year of 1938.

Question 3

Who founded REI?

Accepted Answer

REI was founded by Mary and Lloyd Anderson, a husband-and-wife team of passionate Seattle mountaineers whose love of climbing the Pacific Northwest's rugged peaks drove them to reimagine how outdoor gear could be sold in America. Lloyd Anderson, working alongside his wife Mary, brought an entrepreneurial vision to the climbing community they were deeply embedded in during the late 1930s. As experienced mountaineers regularly tackling the challenging terrain of the Cascade Mountains and the iconic Mount Rainier, the Andersons intimately understood both the critical importance of quality equipment and the frustrating reality that such gear remained prohibitively expensive for many climbers. Their insight was elegantly simple: European manufacturers sold ice axes for approximately $1, yet American retailers charged $5 for the same equipment. Why not organize fellow climbers into a purchasing cooperative that could import gear directly, eliminating middleman markups? This vision resonated immediately with their climbing community. In 1938, the Andersons convinced 23 fellow Seattle mountaineers to contribute to a $50 bulk order of ice axes from Austria, establishing the foundational cooperative model. Mary and Lloyd's approach wasn't merely about saving money—it was about building community, pooling knowledge, and ensuring that financial barriers didn't prevent people from safely enjoying the mountains they loved. Their legacy endures in REI's continued commitment to the cooperative structure, where members remain owners, dividends reward participation, and the outdoor community remains central to the company's identity nearly nine decades after that first ice axe order.

Question 4

What are REI's major milestones?

Accepted Answer

REI's history spans nine decades of transformative milestones that chart both the company's growth and America's evolving relationship with outdoor recreation. From 1938-1960, REI remained a Pacific Northwest niche operation serving climbers and mountaineers with specialized equipment, establishing its Seattle flagship as a community hub where membership meant more than shopping—it meant belonging. The 1960-1980 period captured the backpacking boom, as REI expanded its private-label manufacturing of tents and sleeping bags while opening stores in Berkeley and Portland, growing membership from dozens to 2 million. National expansion defined 1980-2000, with over 100 stores opening in malls across America, diversifying into cycling, kayaking, and snow sports while membership surged to 10 million. The e-commerce era from 2000-2015 brought online shopping integrated with the dividend program and experiential flagship stores featuring climbing walls and costing $10+ million to build, with private-label products reaching 40% of sales. The defining cultural moment arrived in 2015 with #OptOutside, when REI closed all stores on Black Friday, paid employees to go hiking, and generated over 20 million social media impressions with an anti-consumerism message that resonated powerfully with millennials. The pandemic years of 2020-2021 brought an outdoor boom pushing revenue to $4 billion as camping gear and bicycles sold out nationwide. Today's milestone challenges include navigating intense competition from direct-to-consumer brands like Patagonia ($3 billion revenue) and Arc'teryx ($1 billion) while maintaining the cooperative model's relevance as membership growth slows among younger consumers who compare REI's $30 lifetime fee against Amazon Prime's $139 annual subscription.

Question 5

What is REI's mission?

Accepted Answer

REI's mission centers on awakening a lifelong love of the outdoors while advancing environmental stewardship through the unique advantages of its cooperative business model. The official mission statement—"to inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship"—reflects three interconnected commitments that distinguish REI from conventional retailers. First, the inspire dimension manifests through community programming, expert staff guidance, and cultural initiatives like #OptOutside that position outdoor recreation as a counterweight to consumerism rather than just another product category. Second, the educate component operates through classes on everything from backcountry navigation to bike maintenance, creating knowledgeable outdoor enthusiasts rather than mere customers. Third, the outfit function goes beyond simple retail transactions through the cooperative dividend model that returns value to member-owners, rental programs that lower barriers to trying new activities, and the Used Gear resale platform that extends product lifecycles. The stewardship pillar represents REI's conviction that the cooperative structure enables longer-term thinking than quarterly earnings pressure allows, channeling significant profits toward trail building, public lands advocacy, and climate action. This mission statement implicitly positions the cooperative model itself as a strategic advantage: because members are owners receiving annual dividends, their interests align with sustainable business practices that preserve both the company and the wild places it depends upon. By framing outdoor recreation as a lifelong journey of learning and responsibility rather than episodic consumption, REI's mission articulates values-driven capitalism where business success and environmental protection reinforce rather than contradict each other.

Question 6

What products does REI offer?

Accepted Answer

REI offers a comprehensive ecosystem of outdoor products and services spanning the full spectrum of human-powered recreation, with particular strength in camping, hiking, cycling, climbing, snow sports, and water activities. The product portfolio serves both weekend warriors and serious enthusiasts, ranging from entry-level gear for families discovering camping to technical equipment for alpinists tackling challenging objectives. A crucial differentiator is the REI Co-op private label brand, which represents approximately 40% of total sales and delivers higher profit margins while offering members quality equipment at competitive prices—essentially the modern embodiment of those original 1938 bulk ice axe purchases. Beyond new equipment from both REI Co-op and third-party brands like Patagonia and Arc'teryx, the company operates innovative programs that expand access and sustainability. The rental program allows customers to try expensive gear like kayaks, paddleboards, and camping packages before committing to purchases, lowering the barrier to outdoor experimentation. The Used Gear resale platform extends product lifecycles by creating a marketplace for pre-owned equipment, appealing to both budget-conscious consumers and environmentally aware members who prioritize resource conservation. The Adventure Projects trail finder mobile app complements physical products with digital tools for discovering and navigating outdoor experiences. REI's 180+ retail stores function as experiential destinations featuring climbing walls where customers can test gear, expert staff who provide personalized advice, and community event spaces that transform shopping into education. This integrated approach positions REI not merely as a place to buy gear but as a comprehensive resource ecosystem supporting outdoor lifestyles from initial inspiration through years of adventure.

Question 7

Who are REI's members and customers?

Accepted Answer

REI's 24 million lifetime members represent a distinctive community of outdoor enthusiasts who have paid the $30 one-time membership fee to become co-op owners, creating a unique relationship that transcends traditional customer dynamics. Unlike conventional retail where shoppers simply purchase products, REI members gain ownership stakes in the cooperative, receive annual dividends typically around 10% of their purchases, and participate in the democratic governance structure. This membership model creates powerful incentives for long-term engagement—the more members shop at REI, the larger their annual dividend refund, creating a virtuous cycle that rewards loyalty while funding the cooperative's continued investment in stores, e-commerce platforms, and community programs. The demographic profile skews toward outdoor enthusiasts with disposable income for recreation equipment, ranging from casual weekend hikers to serious mountaineers, cyclists, and backcountry skiers. Families discovering camping, urban cyclists commuting to work, and retirees pursuing outdoor hobbies all find community within REI's membership base. However, the cooperative faces challenges attracting younger consumers who increasingly compare REI's $30 lifetime membership against alternatives like Amazon Prime's $139 annual subscription—a different value proposition that offers broader benefits beyond outdoor gear. The membership model historically created community and belonging, with members viewing their co-op ownership as identity rather than mere shopping convenience. Yet as e-commerce normalizes and direct-to-consumer brands like Patagonia cultivate their own passionate followings through environmental activism, REI must continually demonstrate that cooperative membership delivers tangible value beyond nostalgia, making the dividend, used gear access, and community events compelling enough to convert casual outdoor enthusiasts into committed member-owners.

Question 8

How does REI differentiate itself from competitors?

Accepted Answer

REI's primary differentiation rests on its cooperative ownership structure—a radical departure from the shareholder-driven model dominating modern retail—combined with bold cultural positioning exemplified by the #OptOutside campaign. While competitors like Dick's Sporting Goods, Amazon, and even outdoor-focused brands like Patagonia operate as conventional corporations, REI's 24 million members literally own the company, receiving annual dividends around 10% of purchases and participating in democratic governance. This structure enables longer-term thinking unconstrained by quarterly earnings pressure, allowing investments in community programs, environmental advocacy, and employee culture that might otherwise face scrutiny from profit-focused shareholders. The employee-owned culture with profit-sharing programs creates staff genuinely knowledgeable about outdoor recreation rather than merely processing transactions—a palpable difference customers experience in stores. The 2015 launch of #OptOutside crystallized REI's values-driven differentiation when the company made the unprecedented decision to close all stores on Black Friday, America's biggest shopping day, paying employees to go hiking instead. This anti-consumerism stance generated over 20 million social media impressions and resonated powerfully with millennials seeking brands aligned with their values, positioning REI as the antithesis of consumption-obsessed retail culture. The experiential retail approach—flagship stores with climbing walls, community classes teaching outdoor skills, and Adventure Projects trail-finding tools—transforms shopping from transaction to education. Yet REI faces differentiation challenges as direct-to-consumer brands like Patagonia ($3 billion revenue) and Arc'teryx ($1 billion) build passionate followings through environmental activism and premium positioning, while Amazon's $5 billion sporting goods operation offers convenience and selection REI cannot match, forcing the cooperative to continually prove that ownership and community deliver value beyond mere product access.

Question 9

What is REI's cooperative business model?

Accepted Answer

REI's cooperative business model fundamentally restructures the relationship between company and customer by making shoppers into owners, creating aligned incentives that prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term profit extraction. When individuals pay the $30 lifetime membership fee, they become co-op members with ownership stakes, voting rights in corporate governance, and eligibility for annual dividends. The dividend mechanism forms the economic core of the model: members typically receive around 10% of their annual purchases back as refunds, making REI economically attractive for frequent outdoor gear buyers while ensuring the company maintains competitive pricing and quality. This creates a virtuous cycle where satisfied members shop more, receive larger dividends, and remain loyal to the cooperative rather than defecting to competitors. Unlike conventional corporations where profits flow to distant shareholders, REI's surplus revenue gets reinvested into the cooperative itself through store improvements, employee profit-sharing programs, and community initiatives—or returned directly to member-owners through dividends. The democratic governance structure allows members to elect the board of directors, theoretically giving the community voice in major strategic decisions, though practical participation in governance remains limited among the 24 million membership base. The model traces directly to those 23 original Seattle climbers in 1938 who pooled resources to buy ice axes in bulk—the same principle scaled to $4 billion in annual revenue. This structure enables REI to make decisions that might appear economically irrational in traditional retail, such as closing stores on Black Friday or investing heavily in environmental advocacy, because the cooperative's success is measured not solely in profit margins but in serving member-owners' holistic outdoor recreation interests, aligning business performance with the health of the wild places that make outdoor adventure possible.

Question 10

What is the #OptOutside campaign?

Accepted Answer

The #OptOutside campaign represents one of the boldest counter-cultural marketing moves in modern retail history, launching in 2015 when REI made the unprecedented decision to close all 180+ stores on Black Friday—the busiest shopping day of the American calendar—and pay its 15,000 employees to go hiking, climbing, or otherwise recreating outdoors instead of working. This radical gesture challenged the consumption-obsessed frenzy that defines post-Thanksgiving retail, positioning REI's brand around values and outdoor experiences rather than transactional shopping. The campaign generated over 20 million social media impressions as the #OptOutside hashtag went viral, with millions of Americans sharing photos of their outdoor adventures on what would typically be spent fighting crowds in malls. The cultural resonance proved particularly powerful among millennials and younger consumers increasingly seeking brands aligned with their values, demonstrating that companies could prioritize employee wellbeing and environmental stewardship over maximizing sales during peak season. What began as a one-year experiment became an annual tradition, with the campaign evolving to include partnerships encouraging outdoor access, trail building initiatives, and community events nationwide. The business logic was counterintuitive yet ultimately sound: by sacrificing one day's revenue, REI generated enormous brand equity, differentiated itself from both big-box retailers and Amazon, and deepened emotional connections with the cooperative's member-owners who appreciated the anti-consumerism stance. The campaign implicitly celebrated the cooperative model itself—only a member-owned company could absorb the short-term revenue loss without shareholder rebellion. #OptOutside transformed REI from simply an outdoor gear retailer into a cultural movement advocating for outdoor recreation as an antidote to commercialism, proving that values-driven marketing could generate business success while remaining authentic to the company's 1938 founding principles of community and stewardship.

Question 11

What controversies has REI faced?

Accepted Answer

Despite its values-driven reputation, REI has faced several significant controversies testing whether its cooperative ideals translate into practice across governance, labor relations, and leadership conduct. In 2019, CEO Jerry Stritzke resigned abruptly following revelations of a personal relationship with the leader of another organization doing business with REI, raising questions about conflicts of interest and ethical oversight within the cooperative's governance structure. The controversy damaged REI's reputation for operating with higher ethical standards than conventional corporations, suggesting that even member-owned cooperatives can suffer leadership failures. His successor, Eric Artz, arrived from Walmart in 2019 and faced immediate criticism about cultural fit—whether an executive from the world's largest conventional retailer could genuinely champion cooperative values and outdoor stewardship that define REI's identity. Labor relations have emerged as particularly contentious terrain, with unionization efforts at multiple stores highlighting tensions between REI's employee-friendly rhetoric and workplace realities. Workers in Berkeley, Manhattan, and other locations have pursued union representation, citing concerns about wages, scheduling practices, and working conditions that they argue contradict the cooperative's stated commitment to employee wellbeing and profit-sharing culture. These organizing efforts expose an uncomfortable reality: while REI's profit-sharing programs and employee culture appear progressive compared to conventional retail, some workers believe the cooperative model hasn't delivered adequate voice or compensation, particularly for front-line retail staff versus corporate management. Additionally, REI has faced criticism regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, with former employees alleging that the outdoor industry's overwhelming whiteness persists within the cooperative despite public commitments to expanding access. These controversies don't invalidate REI's cooperative model or environmental advocacy but reveal the ongoing work required to align institutional practices with aspirational values across nearly nine decades of evolution.

Question 12

How does REI support outdoor conservation?

Accepted Answer

REI's commitment to outdoor conservation extends far beyond marketing rhetoric, channeling substantial financial resources and organizational influence toward protecting and restoring the wild places its business depends upon, with the cooperative structure enabling longer-term environmental thinking than quarterly earnings pressure typically allows. The company directs significant portions of its profits—traditionally around 70% according to its stewardship commitments—toward outdoor causes including trail building, public lands advocacy, climate action campaigns, and nonprofit partnerships working on conservation issues. This profit allocation reflects the cooperative model's fundamental advantage: because members are owners receiving dividends, they benefit from both short-term returns through annual refunds and long-term preservation of outdoor recreation opportunities, aligning immediate business success with environmental sustainability. REI's advocacy efforts have included campaigns to protect national monuments from boundary reductions, opposing fossil fuel development in sensitive wilderness areas, and supporting legislation expanding outdoor access for underserved communities. The cooperative mobilizes its 24 million members as a political constituency, providing action alerts and organizing comment campaigns on public lands issues where the outdoor recreation community's voice can influence policy outcomes. Trail building initiatives directly improve outdoor infrastructure, with REI crews and volunteers constructing and maintaining pathways in partnership with land management agencies and conservation organizations. Climate action represents an increasingly central focus as the outdoor industry confronts the reality that temperature changes, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather directly threaten skiing, climbing, hiking, and other activities. REI has committed to renewable energy in its operations, supply chain sustainability initiatives, and advocacy for climate policy, positioning the cooperative as an institutional voice arguing that outdoor recreation businesses have existential stakes in environmental protection—making conservation not charitable philanthropy but rather enlightened self-interest essential to long-term viability.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is REI?

When was REI founded?

Who founded REI?

What are REI's major milestones?

What is REI's mission?

What products does REI offer?

Who are REI's members and customers?

How does REI differentiate itself from competitors?

What is REI's cooperative business model?

What is the #OptOutside campaign?

What controversies has REI faced?

How does REI support outdoor conservation?

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