After the largest Co-op member uprising in REI’s history, REI’s new CEO, Mary Beth Laughton, “promised to return the Co-op to its roots.”
She lied.
That’s why REI Union workers and Co-op members are voting to boycott REI during their 2026 Anniversary Sale. Union workers voted overwhelmingly to approve this boycott.
REI continues to confuse me, they had such a good thing going and they seem intent on ruining it. I really don’t understand it. What could possibly be the benefit of running a co-op this way? Do they think they’re going be able to un co-op it and people are still going to shop there?
Old post but yes, exactly. It’s a classic strat and exactly what happened to the farmer’s coop where I grew up. Greasy executive types just see community built infrastructure as free for the taking and they aren’t wrong in a strictly practical sense. Without vigilance and widespread participation (not just shopping) there’s huge potential for abuse and REI hasn’t been a strong coop for a long time. Have you ever put in hours there? Ours is still going, now as a very successful farm supply/fuel depot. A director just kinda slowly stopped organizing members, kept the fee the same so long it became irrelevant, raised prices, you know. Ran it like a business until it became one