Recreational Equipment, Inc.

What does Recreational Equipment, Inc. own?

The co-op owns the REI retail chain, the REI.com e-commerce platform, REI Outlet, the Re/Supply used-gear program, and private-label brands REI Co-op and Co-op Cycles. It operates about 194 stores in 44 states.

Is REI publicly traded?

No. As a consumer cooperative, REI has no shareholders and no stock. Its owners are its 26 million members, and it cannot be sold or taken public without dissolving the cooperative structure.

Who founded REI?

Lloyd and Mary Anderson founded the co-op in Seattle in 1938 with 21 fellow climbers who wanted affordable access to imported mountaineering equipment. Membership initially cost $1 for life.

Where is REI headquartered?

The co-op is headquartered in Kent, Washington, in the Seattle metropolitan area. It sold a planned Bellevue corporate campus in 2020 and adopted a distributed work model.

Who owns REI?

REI's members own it. More than 26 million people hold lifetime memberships purchased for a one-time $30 fee. Members elect the board of directors and receive annual rewards on eligible purchases.

Who is the CEO of REI?

Mary Beth Laughton has been president and CEO since April 2025, succeeding Eric Artz. She previously held executive roles at Nike and served as CEO of Athleta.

How many members does REI have?

More than 26 million as of fiscal 2025, after adding one million new members during the year. Membership costs a one-time $30 fee and includes annual rewards on eligible purchases.

REI began in Seattle in 1938 when Lloyd and Mary Anderson, avid mountaineers, grew frustrated trying to buy quality climbing gear in the United States. They organized 21 fellow climbers into a cooperative that could import European ice axes and equipment at lower cost. Membership cost $1, and the operation ran out of the Andersons' home and then a series of small Seattle storefronts.

The co-op equipped generations of American climbers, including members of the 1963 American Mount Everest expedition, and expanded steadily through the 1960s and 1970s beyond mountaineering into camping, cycling, paddling, and apparel. Under CEO Dennis Madsen and later Sally Jewell, who departed in 2013 to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior, REI grew into a national chain while keeping the cooperative structure and a strong outdoor-ethos identity.

Eric Artz became CEO in 2019, weeks before the pandemic. That period brought the company's boldest moves and hardest years. The #OptOutside Black Friday closure, begun in 2015, became a signature identity. In 2020 REI sold a just-completed $380 million Bellevue headquarters campus and shifted to distributed work. Outdoor demand surged in 2020 and 2021, then cooled sharply, producing net losses of $311 million in 2023 and $156.4 million in 2024.

Workers at the New York SoHo store voted to unionize in 2022, the first of about a dozen stores to organize under the REI Union banner, beginning a still-unresolved labor chapter for a company built on a progressive image. Artz departed in 2025, and Mary Beth Laughton, a former Nike and Athleta executive, took over in April 2025 with the Peak 28 turnaround plan: tighter inventory, stronger product margins, and a sharper membership experience.

Fiscal 2025, ended January 3, 2026, produced $3.54 billion in net sales, a 7 percent gross profit increase, one million new members, and the smallest loss in three years, alongside the union's call for a boycott of the co-op's flagship Anniversary Sale.

Sustainability is central to the co-op's identity and reporting. In fiscal 2025 it reported a 15 percent reduction in emissions against its 2019 baseline and met its waste diversion goal for a second consecutive year.

Product Standards: REI requires brand partners to meet published sustainability standards covering materials, chemicals, and labor, and the REI Co-op private label uses recycled and bluesign-approved materials. The co-op is a Fair Labor Association affiliate for supply chain labor standards.

Advocacy and Giving: The REI Cooperative Action Fund channels money to outdoor nonprofits, distributing $11.8 million in 2025, and members sent a record 1.2 million messages to elected officials on public lands issues. The co-op's #OptOutside campaign remains a high-profile annual statement on consumption.

Caveats: The co-op's values image has been challenged by its unresolved labor dispute. Unionized workers at about a dozen stores have accused the company of slow contract bargaining, and the 2026 boycott call against its own Anniversary Sale marked a significant reputational test. No collective bargaining agreement had been reached as of November 2026.

In 2025 and 2026, REI earned recognition from Forbes, Inc., and TIME for social impact, trust, and brand leadership, and from the Human Rights Campaign for workplace equality. The co-op has appeared on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list in multiple years. The #OptOutside program is regularly cited in retail and marketing case studies as a values-driven campaign that strengthened the brand.

Unionization Conflict (2022 to present): Workers at about a dozen stores have unionized under the REI Union banner. Negotiations have produced no contract after years of bargaining, and the union called for a boycott of the co-op's Anniversary Sale in 2026. REI states it remains committed to bargaining in good faith.

Persistent Losses: Four loss-making years in five, totaling more than $500 million in net losses since 2022, have drawn analyst criticism and questions about whether the member-reward model is sustainable at current cost levels.

Bellevue Headquarters Sale (2020): The decision to sell a never-occupied $380 million campus attracted criticism over planning and timing, though it ultimately preserved cash during the pandemic.