Summary
REI apologized for endorsing Trump interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum, citing backlash over his support for fossil fuel drilling and deregulation.
CEO Mary Beth Laughton, who took over March 31, called the endorsement “a mistake” and pledged to refocus REI on protecting public lands.
The co-op will lead a new coalition, Brands for Public Lands, to lobby for conservation.
The REI Union, which had criticized the endorsement, praised the retraction. The company also faces legal challenges over alleged anti-union practices and benefits withholding.
“why golly golly gumdrops we had no idea asshole mcbabyeater was a baby eating freak that wanted to eat our babies, we just thought he would let us dump out trash in the local pond and lower our taxes. We take full responsibility for this one, so we’re going to start a branding coalition. Sorry, guys :(”
No shit.
Yeah I have a friend from the UK who voted for Brexit. He regrets it now and I’m like: “WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?!”
“We have many values, but the most valuable value to us is profit, far and away. As a business pursuing profit above all else, supporting this administration, and always being ready and willing to bootlick, anywhere, anytime, at a moments notice, was thought to be our best shot at the highest profitability possible for our members. Unfortunately, like most of the supporters of trump, his administration, and his best-picked people, we’re left embarrassed, and holding a (figurative) bag of shit, with nothing to show for it except for smelly hands. Sorry. Can we get a do-over?”
“We have a problem considering everyone that buys our stuff are campers that camp at these parks. We totally did not see or hear anything about this and caught completely by surprise the administration was going to do this. The “Drill baby Drill” slogan we thought he was referring to drilling for profits in OTHER people’s lands! Who are we going to sell all this crap to now?!”
The leopards have never seen such a buffet of faces to eat. Only the best buffets. The biggest. Buffets like nobody has ever seen before! Billions of faces. Ok I’ll see myself out now.
Resign, they endorsed because they thought they would be the winners, turns out it wasn’t the popular move they thought it was, now watch them burn.
Is it a new board because I’m pretty sure we all voted withhold.
“We just wanted to treat our employees like slaves! Why is he doing this to us?”
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REI is corpo scum. They are not a co-op. This retraction is nice to hear but ultimately meaningless as long as they continue forcing corpo trash board candidates into their rigged board elections system.
Their union has done a decent job of documenting some of their behavior. This wasn’t an anomaly.
No shit, everybody knew Trump and his team of morons was exactly that - fucking morons.
don’t forget corrupt
I though that fact was fairly obvious, but you’re absolutely right.
Oh no. Anyways, still on my list of places not to buy.
Right? They cant have it both ways. Dine with a nazi and you’re a nazi. Simple as that.
Maybe once they recognize the union and give them everything they ask for. 'Til then they get none of my money.
On that note, the Union requests that all REI members (if you have an REI account, this means you) vote in the board election.
The union was backing two candidates for the board. The current board, however, has intentionally left the pro-union candidates off the ballot.
REI’s union would like you to log in and vote “Withhold” for all three current candidates. It takes only a few minutes!
A “Withhold” majority vote would result in the candidates not joining the board.
Here are details on how to vote: https://www.ourrei.com/2025-rei-board-elections
To be able to vote, you must have made a purchase at REI in 2024 tied to your account.
Done! Wouldn’t have bothered voting if I hadn’t read your comment, so thanks for sharing. Voting was really easy, just had to enter my member number and zip code.
Sadly, I’ve been boycotting them since 2022.
It says my member number is incorrect when I try to register. I’m gonna have to contact their support for this
That’s what mine said, but then I looked in the history and hadn’t bought anything in two years. Figured that was why
Imagine being able to afford camping and outdoor gear.
Where will I get a $47 headlamp though?
Don’t care. REI is dead to me.
Shop at Academy instead, they don’t give to any political parties & their employees mostly give to non-Fascist groups.
Is this true? I’m a fan of Academy. Don’t let me down.
Academy is iwned by the same Private Equity firm that tanked Toys-R-Us. They are also the only national retailer that sells AR-15’s. Corporations are not your friends. You should not idolize them
They are also the only national retailer that sells AR-15’s.
Eh, what? Cabelas/Bass Pro Shops are certainly nationwide.
Picking and choosing which retailer you buy your goods from based on their business practices is HARDLY idolizing them.
So yall don’t have pics of Toys R Us that you pray to every morning?
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some odd pictures of the giraffe over on pawb.social… Maybe not the same thing?
Thanks, I was wondering where to go to pick up an AR-15
Honestly, at least around my parts, gun stores are charging at least $200 over online prices, that includes big box stores. Best to take the online route. You’ll have to ship to an FFL, so best to check which ones are the cheapest (any gun store is an FFL). Mine only charges $50.
If you’re concerned about politics, I’d say let the gun industry slide, it’s full of right-wingers and not worth it to sift through them. Honestly, you might be surprised how much of a leftist message many of them sympathize with. You’ll have to be the judge on who is cool or not, people are people.
Best to do your research on which rifle you want, there is a plethora. For cheap while decent quality, many folks like the budget PSA AR-15s for as little as $400. A lot of folks will buy a cheap lower like the PA-15 for around $150 and attach a better quality upper as the lower isn’t the most important. The lower is the only regulated part that needs to be picked up from an FFL.
Lastly, if you purchase any firearm, learn it and practice. Know every detail about it as you’ll be tearing it down and cleaning it every so often. Above all else, be safe and have fun.
I would say buy from your local gun shop but most of them are fucking racist nazis.
No legal way out of that one except Form 1 3d printing. It’s from the MAGA shop, the MAGA shop that doesn’t have too many stickers on its wall, or the gun show. Which is also MAGA.
And even if you print it, you’ll still need to buy a bunch of smaller parts from one of the above, or an online retailer. Which will be MAGA.
I know. Where I live it is deep deep MAGA. Overmountain Rifleman is pretty good at appearing neutral but I feel like they keep their MAGA on the downlow. I talk Warhammer stuff with one of the guys that works there.
Yes, it’s true. Check OpenSecrets.org.
This combined with them being anti union means I won’t be shopping there for a while.
how you gonna call yourself a co-op and be anti-union
The board is cooperative with their bank accounts. 🙂
Trumps entires presidency is a big oopsie
This is beyond not knowing their customer base. Where are people going to hike once national Parks are clear cut?
Doesn’t matter, line went up.
I had no idea they endorsed Trump. I will never buy from them again.
They endorsed a Trump nominee, I thought. Or was still enough for me to vote withhold and I’m not likely to shop there until it’s clear all the rot is removed.
REI makes a large amount of money selling bikes which almost entirely come from China. This about-face is purely a reaction to tariffs and the Orange turd affecting their bottom line, not some moral epiphany.
