A Visit to REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.)

REI interior

    

      One of my sons and I needed to travel to the city to buy some items to complete an ongoing project on which he is working. We completed our mission and had some extra time to check our a few stores before beginning the trip home, on what was shaping up to be a long hot day.
                    One of the places we stopped in is a store called REI.  I had never visited this store, but my son had, when he was in college. REI is a specialty shop which has multiple branches in larger cities in most of the East Coast and the West Coast of the United States.  The middle of the nation is not yet REI colonized.  There is a branch in Alaska also. According to the store's website, 23 climbing buddies started this venture, and it has now grown to be a business large enough to be considered to be "One of the 100 Best Companies to Work For" according to Fortune Magazine.  There is a lot to look at.  There is climbing equipment, sports clothing, camping equipment, bicycles, bicycle repair, expedition equipment and backpacks,  travelling packs of freeze dried foods, smaller amounts of first aid supplies.  (Broad selection, but geared for travel first aid kits, not home medical well stocked kits.)   It also has one of the nicest footwear selections I have seen anywhere. I especially liked the different varieties of hats which had the SPF rating on them.  I fell in love with an SPF 50 wide brimmed and light  hat, which will have to wait for another time. They have attractive clothing and particularly nice coats. All of it is well made.  There are sections for fitness, climbing and even travel.  As you might expect, although virtually everything in the store is quality and really well made, a lot of it is expensive.   However, I will be coming back.  In different areas of the store there are "Clearance" areas.   Depending upon your needs, there really are some good buys in these areas.  They also run some really excellent specials on some items.
               For those of you who can't schedule a trip to one of the cities where a branch of REI exists, there is a website:

            www.rei.com

     The website has an excellent "Sale and Clearance" area.   I would have posted a few of the really excellent items on sale from there, but they have blocked the copying of items from their website.

        What did I buy during my trip there ? 

I bought a couple of this Luna LED light which allows campers or travellers to plug into any USB power source including your computer, and have light bright enough to read, or as a nightlight during a power outage.  I thought these would be useful during travel, especially for reading.  This is well made, and one is $4.95 US in REI.

                   I also bought an Outdoor Weather Bank NOAA Travel radio for under $20. which also has a flashlight and digital clock.

I bought one of these as a gift  This was just a few dollars.

      I think it's worth looking through the website yourself.   Have fun.