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Serious question - what is REI?

I know there are all of these sporting goods stores, but it’s supposedly a co-op owned by the members, of which a sizable population of this country are, yet the board is not in any meaningful way elected or nominated by the membership.

REI is a really interesting company. Kinda seems like someone stole a co-op a while back.

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The REI legal entity is indeed still a member owned cooperative. But there are so many members today that there isn’t any practical control that any individual can exercise. That said, if you are a member then you have a vote for the board members.

You can read about the election process here: https://www.rei.com/about-rei/board-election-process

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