Skip to main content

The Power of the People: The History of REI, Explained

REI

By the time you read this, REI’s Co-op Sale, a members-only event, will be underway. Similar to its legendary Garage Sales, in which outdoors enthusiasts embark on a mad dash to purchase slightly used items at a fraction of the original cost, its REI Co-op Sale offers a socially distanced (although still as energetic) opportunity to score quality gear significantly cheaper than usual. It’s no surprise, then, that the source of this savings bonanza came from a couple’s desire to buy better equipment for less. But that’s exactly the origin story of the REI Co-op. Here’s what you need to know about the brand before the REI Anniversary Sale.

Recommended Videos

How REI Was Founded

Recreational Equipement, Inc. was founded by a couple of laymen mountaineers in 1935, although they didn’t know it at the time. Seattle’s Lloyd and Mary Anderson were normal people with a passion for the outdoors and an appreciation for quality equipment. From their local climbing shop, they could buy an Austrian ice ax, but they were expensive. If they went through more distant ski shops, they were cheaper but of inferior quality. So Lloyd and Mary began buying axes direct from Austria for their personal use. It was a better price and a better product, and soon their friends from their local climbing club began to inquire. The Andersons’ expanded, collecting money from friends to collectively increase their buying power, forst for axes and then for other gear. Just as when climbers are ascending a peak together, there was strength in numbers.

In 1938, with assistance from a lawyer friend, the co-op structure was put into a legal framework, with 22 individuals buying in for a $1 lifetime fee. The first brick-and-mortar location was a single shelf in a grocery store and back stock was housed in the Andersons’ attic.

(Right) Mary and Lloyd Anderson Image used with permission by copyright holder

Today, across its 165 stores in 39 states, the co-op structure is still used through a one-time $20 fee voluntarily paid by customers who want to take their relationship with the brand to the next level. Because of its business structure, every year REI donates around 70% of its profits to outdoor causes from the hyper-local to the international, so everyone wins. As a bonus, members receive an annual dividend credit with which they can apply to future gear purchases or cash out, and as insiders they receive discounted services like bike repairs, ski tune-ups, equipment rentals, access to Co-op-exclusive gear, and even trade-in credit for gently used stuff they no longer want.

REI’s Success

REI’s used gear business model (and generous return policy) has even led to profitable side ventures. In 2017, it opened an online platform in which to sell these secondhand items, and unsurprisingly, it was met with rapid support. “At REI, we believe a life outdoors is a life well-lived, but we know that the cost of brand-new gear can be a barrier to access,” said Peter Whitcomb, REI’s director of strategy and leader of the co-op’s used gear efforts, in a release. “In its first 10 months, the beta test has been successful beyond all expectation, which tells us there is an inherent appetite for high-quality, lightly used product at lower price points.”

Its latest venture, initiated amid a pandemic, was announced in the fall of 2020, when REI revealed plans to open two used gear stores, in California and Pennsylvania. Accessible to the Co-op only, it’s one more benefit of membership, and at both of these locations, store credit for trade-ins provides continual inventory. As a secondary benefit, it gives garments and gear a second life with someone earlier in his or her outdoor life as well as preventing their immediate deposit in a landfill.

But, of course, the one Co-op benefit that’s universally celebrated around the U.S. is REI’s famous sales, including its Co-op Sale. Sure, it may not be as satisfying or exhilarating as being in that cold parking lot preparing to sprint toward the nearest table. But the passion you’ll experience online is the same as in-person, albeit without the potential downside: “The sale is going to go on whether you are laying in the parking lot dead or limping around on a bloody stump,” said one Garage Sale vet, “so don’t get hit.”

Jon Gugala
Features Writer
Jon Gugala is a freelance writer and photographer based in Nashville, Tenn. A former gear editor for Outside Magazine, his…
Exploring South Dakota’s Black Hills in spring: Snowmobiling, scenic views, and more
South Dakota has some of the best snow sports around
Longhorn goats at Badlands National Park

Snowmobiling is one of the most popular activities in South Dakota in the winter and early spring, due to the long season and extensive trail systems that cover about 416 miles and 1.2 million acres of dense pine forests, open meadows, and rugged limestone terrain. The snowmobile season officially runs from mid-December to the end of March, though the trail conditions depend on the snowfall.
Originally, the South Dakota State Tourism Office flew us out in mid-March to experience the best that the state has to offer in early spring. Unfortunately, there was a huge warm spell just as we arrived, and the snowmobile trails melted out. While it did snow plenty during our stay, it wasn’t quite enough to get us out there. That said, I was still able to chat with a bunch of locals to figure out where to go, what to do, and how to make the most of snowmobiling in the Black Hills. I also compiled some suggestions about what to do if the weather doesn't turn out the way you planned. Here’s everything I learned.

Snowmobiling in the Black Hills

Read more
Yellowstone’s latest mystery: a new volcanic vent discovered
New plumes of steam visible at Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park volcanic vent over Nymph Lake

Our national parks are always changing, and Yellowstone National Park is an excellent example of that. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) just announced that scientists have discovered a brand-new volcanic vent that has opened up in the park. While it was originally discovered on August 5, 2024, when a park scientist driving south from Mammoth Hot Springs saw a plume of steam above the tree line, the USGS has finally confirmed that it is indeed a new volcanic vent.

This new hydrothermal feature sits at the base of a rhyolite lava flow and is surrounded by mineral-rich ground in the Roadside Springs thermal area. If you look south near a pullout along the Mammoth to Norris road just north of the Nymph Lake overlook, you should be able to see it over the other side of the marsh.

Read more
Isuzu Basecamp is an ultra-rugged truck camper that’s ready for anything
The already legendary Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35 gets a serious upgrade for trail-hungry overlanders.
An Isuzu Arctic Trucks Basecamp truck camper parked in the woods with rooftop tent deployed.

Iceland's Arctic Trucks has partnered for years with Isuzu UK to trick out the brand's best and baddest off-road rigs.  But its latest work, codenamed Basecamp, takes the partnership to a whole new level.

Every Basecamp truck is born from the legendary Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35 — a rig that the brand describes as its "most capable pickup ever. 25 years in the making." It's an ultra-rugged, go-anywhere truck that's purpose-built for the world's toughest environments. But Arctic Trucks saw fit to do better.

Read more