REI plans to lay off about 275 store employees

[scott43]

PLM = product lifecycle management
DCs = distribution centres
B&M = bricks and mortar
LCL = less than a container load
My favourite though is OG which equals original gangsta..

 

[Posaune]

PLM = product lifecycle management
DCs = distribution centres
B&M = bricks and mortar
LCL = less than a container load
My favourite though is OG which equals original gangsta..

Thanks. In my industry (education) we use none of those abbreviations, nor do we hear those terms often.

For us they mean:
PLM - academic counseling
DCs - schools
B&M - what DCs are made of
LCL - what some of our clients display daily
OG - we have some of them, too

 

[fatbob]

I loved the REI shell I had and the very reasonable price I paid for it. When I eventually took it in with some seam issues I was gutted to find they no longer made an equivalent and offering me Marmot or NF was just not the same.

 

[cantunamunch]

PLM = product lifecycle management
DCs = distribution centres
B&M = bricks and mortar
LCL = less than a container load
My favourite though is OG which equals original gangsta..

scott's peasant interpretation centre leave your clogs by the wooden trough.

I thought it was 'line manager' though.

 

[martyg]

scott's peasant interpretation centre leave your clogs by the wooden trough.

I thought it was 'line manager' though.

Correct. PLM is product line manager.

 

[martyg]

I loved the REI shell I had and the very reasonable price I paid for it. When I eventually took it in with some seam issues I was gutted to find they no longer made an equivalent and offering me Marmot or NF was just not the same.

REI, for a spell, was using eVent fabric for their rain gear. eVent was great fabric. However they could not make it as a brand and meet factory MOQ. So they went OEM.

Those were great jackets.

 

[scott43]

scott's peasant interpretation centre leave your clogs by the wooden trough.

I thought it was 'line manager' though.

I'm the peasant OG...

 

[pais alto]

However, you do not get to several billion dollars in sales by catering to niches. If you are not at that level, you cannot afford to hire the best talent available. And during my time at REI, private brands had the top people in the industry.

So, making billions and hiring “the best talent available” has led to the scenario @cantunamunch described - basically less expertise, less choice, less quality, less customer service.

In REI’s corporate meetings, I suppose that scenario is viewed as winning because…hey, more money and more “talent.”

 

[crgildart]

Let's make up some new acronyms for "R. E. I."..

 

[Scruffy]

Sure I might have a compelling reason to visit one, and surely this time they can't possibly be that bad .
And then by the time I leave it's with regret and self-condemnation that I haven't learned from prior experience.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and bruises to prove it. Hope springs eternal!

 

[ss20]

Let's make up some new acronyms for "R. E. I."..

Relatively
Expensive
Items

 

[crosscountry]

REI, for a spell, was using eVent fabric for their rain gear. eVent was great fabric. However they could not make it as a brand and meet factory MOQ. So they went OEM.

Someone care to expand the acronym dictionary?

 

[scott43]

Someone care to expand the acronym dictionary?

MOQ = minimum order quantity
OEM = original equipment manufacturer

I'm going to start charging for this service...

 

[pipestem]

^minimum order quantity. you have to order enough for the (overseas) factory to make it worthwhile.

REI was still great 20 years ago. I could wait for a spot in the garage sale and pickup awesome hiking boots for $20 or a long distance backpack for $30. I still have it. I got an awesome returned but new insulated softshell for $35, my favorite clothing item ever. Then began the long decline. Shock cord - gone. Tent patch, gone. Harnesses, ropes, and good carabiners - gone. Our local store is just name brand clothing and bikes. I still buy the lightweight merino wool crew length socks maily for nostalgia. Garage items are noew super expensive for crap. Even the Denver store is not really interesting anymore, just common namebrand stuff. Can you still rent gear for a weekend? They need some mojo.
edit: the one great thing is still the return policy, makes it worthwhile when taking a chance on something.

 

[Philpug]

POS-Point Of Sale, which is ironic because most of them are Pieces Of $hit.

 

[crosscountry]

Garage items are noew super expensive for crap

Found that to be the case for me too.

just name brand clothing and bikes

just common namebrand stuff.

That's the problem. I can buy those same stuff elsewhere. Then it became a price chase, which brick and mortar store are in a losing position.

Now, REI's only redeeming feature is the long return window. For some stuff that I only use sporadically, it's good to have the long return window to run them through the cycles and make sure they don't fall apart.

But I'm worried that may prove to be yet another significant lose center for them. If people return items they don't like after several months, it wouldn't be good for the co-op. How much can they sustain that? I've bought a couple of big ticket items from them because I know if it doesn't work out, I can return them. They worked out great. So in that sense they did beat out competitors precisely because of their return policy. I just wonder if the lose from returns can be made up by increase sale.

 

[crgildart]

POS is both the location where you check out... AND the devices used to check you out, register terminal, credit card/transaction square cardreader etc.. The "wrap stand" is the term that just describes the place where you check out itself too though..

 

[David]

Brick & mortar stores are going away. I've been shopping REI since the mid 80's and we didn't have a store within a 3 hour drive until 4 years ago.

 

[cantunamunch]

REI, for a spell, was using eVent fabric for their rain gear. eVent was great fabric. However they could not make it as a brand and meet factory MOQ. So they went OEM.

Those were great jackets.

Jackets and trousers. Still using mine.

 

[Tom K.]

I don’t actually need any more gear.

Emergency call for a Ski Talk intervention!

EMERGENCY!

Let's make up some new acronyms for "R. E. I."..

Perhaps already covered, but Return Equipment Incorporated is an old, well known, one.