- Phoney-baloney "greenwashed" public facade of an ecology and waste/carbon neutrality. REI's "Carbon neutral by 2020 plan" has now been re-branded as "zero waste by 2020." Yet as of 4th quarter 2012 REI now offers free shipping....with no minimum purchase! "Hmmm, time to try that new flavor of caffeinated strawberry glucose-gel-gook!" "Maybe I'll have one shipped to me instead of cycling over to the store to test-ride that bike I've wanted to buy for a while." "On second thought, it would be nice if there was actually a place to park my bike at the store"
- Mysterious and unclear pathways for advancement and few opportunities for improvement of marketable job skills. I don't know about you, but I've never heard the "endorsement" process mentioned at a morning "huddle" or the extremely rare staff meeting. Could it be that current managers, ASMs, and supes, are weary of strong inside candidates being their future competition for store management and other regional management jobs? In regards to skill-set improvement, I once submitted a Individual Development Plan (IDP) to learn new things that would help me better serve customers and develop more marketable job skills, and several of the store managers responded with a marginalizing chuckle at the fact that I bothered to use this formal REI process. The internal job listings that are supposed to be posted in the office...well that rarely happens at my store.
- NON living wages relative to comparable retail stores and slow adjustments to cost-of-living increases in specific metropolitan statistical areas. The labor budgets at REI do not seem to go the retail employees who are the intrinsic value of the company.
- Unequivocally abysmal staffing levels relative to other bicycle retailers that frustrate and alienate customers. Many customers are used to Independent Bicycle Dealers (IBDs) in a 2000 sq foot shop with twice the number of employees ready to serve them, not a sign in sheet to wait 45 minutes "for the next bike specialist."
- Extreme frugality in terms of expenditures on capital equipment, especially technology such as computer terminals to serve customers, CCTV cameras for loss prevention, and safety equipment such as ladders, ergonomic equipment etc. that could improve productivity, reduce workers compensation experience modules, and mitigate general liability claims.
- Recent increases in (questionable) radio and even expensive television! advertising spending and trendy "today only" type internet coupons (e.g. Living Social, Groupon, Google Offers etc.) in increasingly desperate attempts to garner market share. But maybe that's what everybody else is doing these days.
