Big as the Great Outdoors
REI, a co-op with 5 million members, opens its Flagstaff store with 70 employees.
By: Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa
The floor space of the stores offering outdoor gear in Flagstaff just grew by about 14,000 square feet. REI celebrated its grand opening this weekend with food, music and prizes.
The company specializes in hiking, biking, camping, and climbing gear.
Around 70 employees, some of them temporary, spent the last week stocking shelves, hanging clothes and displaying more than 200 bicycles, said store manager Laura Thompson. Each store carries a core group of products, but the company also tries to tailor some parts of the store to the host community.
For example, the Flagstaff store has a bike repair shop inside and carries a wide selection of climbing gear, she said.
The company is actually a co-op with more than 5 million members and customers nation-wide, Thompson said. It costs $20 to become a lifetime member of the company. Members get coupons, discounts and even a cut of the profits at the end of the year.
Despite its size, the company tries to connect with the communities in which it locates. Thompson said nearly every store has a community room where the store offers outdoor gear lessons and local groups can gather for meetings.
The company also partners with local nonprofits to support things like bike and hike trails and the preservation of open spaces. REI granted $10,000 each to the Arizona Trail Association and Flag Velo of Flagstaff Bicycle Organization. Employees also volunteered with the Arizona Trail Association, American Conservation Experience and Flagstaff Ranger District to work on the Sandy Seep Trail on Mount Elden in March.
The company also offers its employees more than minimum wage.
“I think we’re good for the outdoor industry as a whole,” Thompson said. “We’d like to cohabitate with other local stores. We have the same purpose in mind.”
Local establishments aren’t too concerned about the impact of REI might have on the local outdoor market.
“We’ve been preparing for this for a year,” said Steve Chatinsky, the owner of Peace Surplus on Route 66.
Flagstaff residents have a strong shop-local attitude, he added.
“Of course, everyone wants to see the shiny, new store,” Chatinsky said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Lisa Lamberson from Mountain Sports Flagstaff isn’t worried either.
“Helathy competition makes us stronger. We just finished our best year in the history of our organization,” she said. “We’ve been working on REI coming to town for the last two years and recently stocked up on our largest selection of Patagonia sportswear ever.”
Mountain Sports also gives back to the community though the 1 percent for the Planet program. Members in the program donate 1 percent of their proceeds to a nonprofit sustainability organization of their choice on 1 percent for the Planet’s list. Mountain Sports’ donations go to four local nonprofits.
Source:
Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa, Arizona Daily Sun, Sunday
April 27, 2014, pp C1 & 8.
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