R.E.I.
From Freepedia
R.E.I. (Recreational Equipment Inc.) is a sporting goods and outdoor gear consumer cooperative.
It was founded in 1938 by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in Seattle. The Andersons imported an Academ Pickel ice axe from Austria for themselves and decided to set up a cooperative to help outdoor enthusiasts acquire good quality climbing gear at reasonable prices. It has become the largest consumer cooperative in the United States, with over 2.5 million members and about 70 stores in 25 states (it opens 6 to 8 new stores each year). Its 7,000 employees are offered large discounts on products it sells (prodeals), and it pays a dividend of up to 10% on purchases to its members (virtually every year, although this is not guaranteed), in cash or store credit. There is a one-time, non-refundable fee of $15 to join. 2005 sales are expected to be approximately $1 billion.
R.E.I. is headquartered in Kent, Washington. Its flagship store is in the Cascade neighborhood of Seattle. It has a distribution center in Sumner, Washington, and is planning to open a second distribution center on the East Coast sometime in 2007.
R.E.I. designs and sells its own private-brand gear, either under the REI name or under another label, such as Novara bicycles, although the majority of what it sells is brand-name mechandise from other companies. It competes as a full-service retailer, with a fully-integrated website (including order-on-the-web, pick up at a store, no shipping fee), rather than as a low-price retailer. Local stores often host (typically free) events, including clinics on outdoor topics. The company also has a division, REI Adventures, that offers guided tours (hiking, cycling, etc.).
Major competitors in the United States include the for-profit national and regional chains Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Eastern Mountain Sports, Gander Mountain, L.L. Bean, Sport Chalet, and Sportman's Warehouse, as well as national sporting goods retailers such as Sports Authority, Big 5, and Dick's Sporting Goods, web pureplays such as altec.com and backcountry.com, and a host of local independent retailers.
