Seattle R.E.I. Flagship Store Walking Tour скачать в хорошем качестве

Seattle R.E.I. Flagship Store Walking Tour

Recreational Equipment, Inc (R.E.I.) is one of Seattle's iconic businesses, founded in 1938 as a co-operative owned by its members for the express purpose of providing outdoor enthusiasts of all types with high quality gear for enjoyment of their recreational pursuits. It's evolved a lot over the years to include a whole lot more than simple hiking and camping products. Some complain it's strayed far from its original concept as a source for regular folks to buy modestly priced outdoor gear and instead become more of an overpriced, upscale boutique shop for yuppies and dilettantes. Whatever your take on that issue, there's no debating the big Seattle store has more outdoor oriented stuff in one place than just about anywhere else you can find. So join us now for an inside tour on a busy Saturday afternoon. All photos and videos on this channel are original content created and produced by Sunny Sky Travel. Recreational Equipment, Inc., commonly known as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation. It is organized as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells camping gear, travel equipment, and clothing. It also offers services such as outdoor-oriented vacations and courses. REI operates 165 retail stores in 39 states. It also receives orders via mail-order catalogs and the internet. Lloyd (1902–2000) and Mary Anderson (1909–2017) founded REI in Seattle, Washington in 1938. The Andersons imported an Akadem Pickel ice axe from Austria for themselves as part of The Mountaineers Basic Climbing Course, and decided to set up a co-operative to help other outdoor enthusiasts in the club acquire good quality climbing gear at reasonable prices. On June 23, 1938, with the help from Seattle attorney Ed Rombauer, five Mountaineers met at Rombauer's office, and each paid one dollar to join Recreational Equipment Cooperative. Lloyd and Mary were issued cards No. 1 and 2. During the first year, Recreational Equipment was nothing more than a shelf at the Puget Sound Cooperative Store, a farmer's co-op near Pike Place Market in Seattle. In 1942, Lloyd moved to a new space down the hall from The Mountaineers club rooms on Pike Street. Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest (in 1963), was hired as the first full-time employee of REI on July 25, 1955. In 1956, Recreational Equipment Cooperative was incorporated. Whittaker served as CEO during the 1960s and was an early board member with American Alpine Club president Nicholas Clinch. When Whittaker climbed Mount Everest, it provided REI with so much free advertising that the following year, 1964, its gross income topped $1mil for the first time. Through the 1970s, it identified itself prominently as REI Co-op, focusing primarily on equipment for serious climbers, backpackers, and mountaineering expeditions. However, in the 1980s, with changes to its board of directors, the emphasis shifted toward family camping and branched out into kayaking, bicycling, and other outdoor sports. It acquired nearby outdoor gear firm Mountain Safety Research in 1981, which later bought tent-maker Edgeworks and produced tents with the MSR brand. REI kept MSR until 2001, when it exited the manufacturing business, selling the operation to Cascade Designs, another successful outdoor gear company in the Seattle area. Clothing, particularly "sport casual" clothes, also became a greater part of the company's product line. Text source: Wikipedia