no one would actually be fired for not meeting weekly sales quotas. But our hours would definitely be cut down to single digits until we quit. This is a common practice, and not unusual in retail, but REI prides itself on being an ethical co-op and should act accordingly.

Also, the rule of unintended consequences led…

I ended up buying a membership too, even though I don’t even live in the country, just to shut the woman up about it. She literally wouldn’t even back down after I explained, “listen, I don’t live here, we don’t have REI stores where I’m from, I literally may never be in another REI store in my entire life.”

Here in Colorado REI has a TON of competition ... I can see why you can’t find mom & pop outfitters in a lot of towns in the midwest and whatnot, but here in CO you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone selling hiking, camping, hunting or skiing gear.

I worked at best buy for years when I was younger. I remember them bringing in Monster for their technology lectures that basically existed to teach employees how to sell overpriced scam products to gullible customers. A couple years ago I had to stop in there for an optical cable for a Bose home theater and had an…

This makes me not want to shop at REI, but not for the obvious reason I guess.

There’s something wrong here on a systemic level. I notice this every time I shop in Europe, vs in the US: in Europe, a salesperson is (usually) very knowledgeable about the product, alternatives, tech specs etc., and can advise me. In the US, the salesperson is a marketing wiz, with (often) zero knowledge about the…

I went into both Denver REI stores this past summer and I can tell you with certainty that the only thing they care about is membership sales.

They couldn’t find the crampons I wanted even though they were in stock, they tried to tell me the model of crampons I wanted didn’t exist (Yay product knowledge!). They managed…

This is a very disappointing read. I always thought highly of REI. Not so much any more.

1. It’s not “sales” itself being a metric. It’s sales of memberships specifically. You can be the top salesman of merchandise, but if you’re below average in sales of memberships, then you get pushed aside.

@Sisyphus: Really? Would we accept that kind of logic from a man? He deserved it because he probably antagonized her? Based on the article and comments here, I don't disagree with him. Gleefully admitting to partner violence is not okay just because you're a woman. It's still something to be ashamed of.

The missus smacked me around a bit for the 3rd time in our 17 year marriage -i never even raised a finger -ever!