REI plans to lay off about 275 store employees

[Tricia]

In an ever changing landscape in the ski/sporting goods industry, this is going to make a pretty big impact.

Breaking: REI Lays Off About 275 Store Workers

REI Co-op laid off about 275 store workers yesterday, cutting its sales lead role across all retail operations. The layoffs were announced via employee email.

thedaily.outdoorretailer.com

 

[scott43]

Ouch. At least it's not Christmas yet...

 

[Jilly]

Brick and mortar are hurting. On line sales, comes straight to the door.

 

[AEV4EV]

All 275 were sales lead positions?

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Sounds like it. Sales are down, income is down - cuts gotta happen. I wonder if their online sales are beating out the in store business?

 

[Dwight]

That's only 2% of staff. Sucks for the 2% but overall not too bad.

 

[crgildart]

Well with no more lifetime however you want to abuse it guarantee they don't need as many customer service leads to process as many returns amirite? REI is/was one of the last giant models trying to prove that excellent service will beat out rock bottom online prices.. Just 2% so far but bummer for them and others if it doesn't turn around next year.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Unfortunately the REI brand doesnt add much value for me. Sometimes those 2% might not be the most productive employees. Maybe its a good thing if they realign with what made them special in the first place. But yeah, people like good prices.

 

[crosscountry]

I really like REI stores when I lived in San Francisco. As far as I could tell, REI of that era didn't sell junks. Everything had been tested and re-tested in the field and they work as expected. And the sales people are all outdoor people and use what they sell.

Moving to the east, I found the sale staff less experienced than their west coast colleagues. Also fewer stores, so not as convenient.

Fast forward a decade or more, a lot of the stuff they sell are no longer unique, no longer of the same high quality. A lot more of clothing and less hardware. While I understand clothing has higher margin, they don't stand out. I can buy "casual wear" from other stores just as easily.

 

[ss20]

REI has been downhill anyways at least. Same stuff as Dick's or any other outdoor wear store nowadays.

 

[Tricia]

REI has been downhill anyways at least. Same stuff as Dick's or any other outdoor wear store nowadays.

In Reno, the REI is much more advanced and very capable as a sporting goods store.
Dicks...no effing way.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

REI is a mixed bag and varies greatly by location. I liked the store in Encinitas. But it was definitely trekking focused. Going on a long backpacking trip in Costs Rica? If you could dream it, they had it. Looking for ski gloves in winter? Have you checked online?

 

[Popeye Cahn]

The store nearest me is always busy, they are expanding into another building to handle bikes, snowsports and suchlike. They are also hiring up for the season. Given my location, they are the best place for tending to my skis.

 

[John O]

In Reno, the REI is much more advanced and very capable as a sporting goods store.
Dicks...no effing way.

Yeah, they are very different stores here in Seattle too. They both serve a need, but I'm shocked to see someone compare the two.

 

[KevinF]

Here in New England, REI competes with EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). My local EMS store is small, so not really worth visiting…. The nearest REI is 40, 50 minutes away so I rarely get there.

Like all retail, I’m sure they’re being affected by the switch to e-commerce.

 

[crosscountry]

Here in New England, REI competes with EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). My local EMS store is small, so not really worth visiting…. The nearest REI is 40, 50 minutes away so I rarely get there.

EMS had closed all their stores in the flat land. I can't say I missed them.

Actually, I missed them when they closed, which was something like 10 years back. When I talked to the sales staff at the local store, I was told they didn't get to choose what they put on the floor. So lots of ski stuff and not enough kayaking stuff here in Connecticut. Little wonder they did poorly.

REI is more conscious of local particulars. That helps. Unfortunately, they've lost their uniqueness in the market place. They used to have the best and latest hiking/camping/backpacking gear. Now, though they still carry a lot of good stuff, but not the best any more. I think it's their buyers. Here, even in the flagship New York Soho store, which should attract a lot of type-A big spenders with ultra light backpacking gear etc, the stuff they put on the floor were pretty pedestrian. I can see plainly the frustration of the sale staff who had to tell me to get what I need from competitors online.

 

[tromano]

Here in New England, REI competes with EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). My local EMS store is small, so not really worth visiting…. The nearest REI is 40, 50 minutes away so I rarely get there.

Like all retail, I’m sure they’re being affected by the switch to e-commerce.

The longest lasting hiking boots I ever had were ems branded pair, bought them when I was 15 and only had to retire them when the soles delamed 27 years later. The uppers would have lasted another 27. But could not resole them.

As a kid rei was a the center of the universe.

 

[martyg]

Seems like a logical move: put more resources into those employees working 25 - 30 hours per week. Provide them with more hours to make their positions sustainable and have higher retention.

REI, on all fronts but particularly the Private Brands division, has my complete respect.

 

[crgildart]

^^^^^Keeping employees at under 30-32 hours eliminates the requirement to provide healthcare insurance plans. Part of the ACA that got cut when someone actually read it was that they were originally planning to measure it by total hours divided by total employees to determine the number of "full time" employees so they couldn't just put everyone at 29 hours or less. Removing that way or measuring things mostly defeated the point other than exchanges for individuals without work coverage options. But that's getting political.. so

Back on topic. I joined REI right after they sent a couple folks to our cub scout pack meeting who had just returned from competing The Appalachian Trail and were now working at the local REI. It was clear that those folks were well skooled to advise us greenhorns how to gear up for hiking and camping..

 

[Wilhelmson]

Ow if REI Fenway had free game day parking with a purchase of $100, I would shop there. We just don’t get in to Boston for day trips that much anymore. Hingham is about as far.
But some of these positive comments will induce me to shop there online when the price and product are similar. We don’t want only Amazon and Walmart types around in 15 years. Amazon cut almost 30,000 jobs last year btw.