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.
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.
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.
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
Picking and choosing which retailer you buy your goods from based on their business practices is HARDLY idolizing them.
Yes, it’s true. Check OpenSecrets.org.
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.
This combined with them being anti union means I won’t be shopping there for a while.
This is beyond not knowing their customer base. Where are people going to hike once national Parks are clear cut?
