I think of REI as a clothing and replacement item store. For climbing gear I go to Neptune, Bent Gate, and www.gearexpress.com

I stopped looking for climbing gear at REI after I asked a salesperson what size knifeblades they carried and he walked over to the sunglasses case and said he didn't see any knifeblades.

After working/running a couple local shops, I can't stand REI. I didn't like them before, but find a lot of their business practices detrimental to the climbing industry and sometimes dishonest.

Given how I feel about REI, you can guess how I feel about Walmart.

Gotta throw the love out for my boys and gals down at Wilderness Exchange! It's a rag tag group, but they have a great attitude and an awesome climbing selection. Their back country skiing selection is getting pretty good as well.

My mother always says, if you can’t buy it at Wal-Mart, you probably don’t need it, and I agree wholeheartedly.

What about my cheap tequila & hookers?

Avery, the smaller independent shops rip you off just as much REI. Did you know Neptune's gives 35% discount to AMGA guides??? That sounds like bullshit to me, i'd be upset if I had to pay full price there. Other indies do the same kinds of things. If you're a regular Joe, you're paying way more than others. I guess it's about what you do to get in the right crowd (if you are interested in saving/making money).

Avery, enjoy paying full price at a local independently owned shop, it keeps the prices down for the rest of us, including those who get lower rates @ REI. I know, I know, capitalism really sucks. It's an especially hard pill to swallow here in the bubble (Boulder), where we get tricked (trick ourselves) into thinking that the lowest price is not what it it about as a consumer in the U.S. That's an easier pill to swallow after a couple of kids!

REI – The New Eddie Bauers?

Back in the early seventies, when I lived in Minnesota, there was an Eddie Bauer store on the street level of The Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis.
Eddie Bauer’s was one of the few shops in Minnesota where one could purchase climbing gear. They specialized in the highest quality goose down products, but also carried hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing and climbing gear.
Has anyone been to an Eddie Bauers lately? These days Eddie’s only stocks clothing
(fashion, not function) and home décor.
As these companies’ get bigger and bigger, they must please their stockholders, and if that means “selling out” and catering to the mass market, so be it.
REI was started by mountaineers on the west coast and it was primarily a mail order coop. They have outgrown their original intent, which sucks for us climbers, but it must certainly please the stockholders.
I too, miss the small neighborhood climbing shops. Stone Canyon Outfitters, a tiny family run climbing shop that resided in Castle Rock for a short while, finally folded, no doubt unable to keep up with REI Park Meadows.

My dividend shows up today. Go online and toss somethigg in our basket. When you get to the last step (where you would need to pay) you get a summary showing among other things, the amount of your dividend to be applied.

$6.57 for me. Actually higher than I expected.

REI drove my favorite shop out of town, Marin Outdoors in Santa Rosa. They are getting a bit like Walmart, IMO. The put up shop right across the street, which I'm sure was very intentional. Marin Outdoors lasted maybe 4-5 months. Very sad. I used to be able to fondle cams at Marin Outdoors, but now that they are kaput, REI keeps their meager selection behind lock and key.

"Did you know Neptune's gives 35% discount to AMGA guides??? "

I thought it was higher.

To their credit, I think they offer at least 10% to just about every climbing organization. Just ask. AAC, CMC, etc. I think they would do better to advertize that.

Tom,

Hate to tell you, but in Minneapolis I often get just as crappy service at the local small shop as I do at any of the local REIs. Granted, there are a few folks at the local shop who really know their stuff and if you know who to talk to, it is great. But, there are some royal knobs as well. Same goes for REI; if you know the right staff in the right department they know their stuff. Then there was REI in the Portland, OR area this December. Good gravy that was a disaster.

N.

Incompetent employees exist everywhere. A few years ago when Charlet came out with the new M10 I called Neptune to see if they had any yet. The guy who answered the phone assured me that they did and they were the new design. If this were a conversation with someone at REI I would have been pretty skeptical because they had just been released. So I drove from Centennial(where I was working at the time) to Neptune on my lunch break. I went to the counter and the phone guy was there...he went back to get the new crampons. They were the old ones...that had been in their shop for about 4 years. "Oh, sorry dude." What pissed me off is that he was so insistent that they were the new ones when we were on the phone. Unfortunately for me, his specialty must have been ski boots.

After struggling for years with XC gear in the BC, I was so psyched to have funds to outfit BC gear. I went to REI and got help checking out skis. I was just off of work dressed blue collar. A business man in a suit walked up and the sales associated dropped me to help him. He was buying kids XC skis, which cost about 10% of what I was going to spend. I waited but was ignored.

This was actually lucky for me because I bought my gear at a climbing shop on Speer Blvd. The guy helping me fit my boots insisted on a size that was very counter intuitive for me. He was very sure...the boots were so tight that I thought that I would be returning them. However they were perfect!

Since I'm restricted to the sofa I couldn't resist commenting on this one. We get exactly what we want from a free market and that includes cheap stuff from Walmart and REI. It is hard for small businesses to compete with larger corporations unless they can do something that distinguishes them from those high volume-low overhead retailers. So, the small shops can offer more expertise and local knowledge, but they often get the attitude of the staff and sometimes the owners to go with it. The big shops find it hard to develop expertise and probably don't worry too much about that, but they do offer lower prices and better returns policy. Whether it's 30% at a big store or 40% markup at a small store, it still has to pay rent, employee salaries, insurance, finance costs for the business, etc. After all those items are paid for, then the business has the opportunity to make a profit. So, go and shop where you feel that you are getting the best value for your hard earned $$$!

Some of you guys really expect a lot from a college student making $8 an hour, who is really only there for the prodeal.

I go in REI with the same attitude I do when climbing: self reliance. I know what I want, I don't need some dipshit to tell me what I want or need, and I'm never disappointed. And I don't need any expertise because if it sucks I return it.

Face it - big corporations aren't going away. As they go I find REI a decent one. They give money back to their members, build relatively environmental stores and offer a wide range of quality products. I've worked there and found it a perfectly decent environment. They also, as mentioned, have the most amazing return policy on earth. We should get to the point where try to make the corporations better. REI isn't perfect and certainly I do have problems with the unfair volume advantage they have, but maybe they just have a better business model.

I've found just as much employee incompetence at Neptune as I have at REI. Besides I don't want to pay more just for some "knowledge." I've never seen a sale there and everything I've bought has been overpriced. I've never been to Bentgate - sounds like a good store. I'm sure with more success they too would be popping up all over the US.

Does REI have a big sign out front that says "Best and most knowledgeable climbing store in Boulder!!" No! Get over it and realize they aren't after the uber specialized climbing niche. Do you go to Walmart for expert camera advice from some pimple clad 16 year old?

I read all this about their lack of knowledge and think "No shit! It's REI!" If you need to learn which stopper works best at Lumpy Ridge from someone at REI maybe you shouldn't be climbing.

To compare REI to Walmart is a gross miscalculation.

Hi Ron,

Thanks. I stand corrected. As an REI Coop member since 1975, I should have known that. I guess that I just haven't spent enough money there in the last few years to receive a distinguishable refund.

What kills me is how places like Neptune's whine about people just showing up to try stuff on. In other words, a customer with money in hand and ready to buy just walked out the door and Neptune's is too self centered to do anything about it other than whine like children. That just kills me. I REALLY WANT to spend my money there - I know of the place and want to like it - I drove all the way over there - but it's like I get kicked out of their store by cocky and annoying store employees, a lack of stock on hand, no promotions, high prices, etc.

Neptune's is pretty dead these days compared to REI. I think they have built a solid rep for annoying customers, because it seems everywhere I go I hear about the attitude there. Nobody likes to be belittled because they got a job instead of becoming a climbing bum. REI, OTOH, is packed at all hours. Even that pales to the amount of money this town must be sending over the internet. Boulder must have the highest spending on outdoor gear / capita in the world. Neptune's is just clueless - to get just a couple percent more of that while having the largest shop in town - but with the least # of customers in it these days...