Pros
By working at REI, one has agreed to exchange one’s own outdoor experience for a wage to sell products to the consumer. Most customers are not hard core outdoor enthusiasts (that’s okay), but will be suburbanites with a desire to “get out” more or simply purchase items for their upcoming vacation. Fellow part-time coworkers are outdoor enthusiasts that you count on for days off full of adventure. This is a great part-time job to supplement income for a working person, college student, or retiree.
Cons
The first con, and this is appears to be a company-wide problem which is getting worse, is selling memberships. Remember, that one is exchanging their outdoor expertise. Well, that does not really matter. Selling memberships is the single most important task. For not meeting quota, one is handed, punitively, reduced hours. This is a tongue and cheek example: It is important to never spend too much time with an existing member. Keep moving across the sales floor to find those non-members and beg them to sign up. You do not want to waste time outfitting an existing member preparing a trip of a lifetime to Kilimanjaro. It seems like the only rubric for measuring success is memberships. The second con I hope, is only particular to my own store. Most of the sales leads and managers are retail professionals and not particular “outdoorsy”. The authenticity and integrity of this hiring practice should be questioned. Said employees could probably tell you about a product, but not how they have actually used it.