[at-l] Need REI Help

[Arthur Gaudet]

Ken,
I worked at REI for about a year and a half ('98-'99) at the Reading store, I
was in backpacking/camping. In general it was a nice awakening to be on the
other side of the retail experience and it calmed my fears of being taken
advantage of. Perhaps my boss was the best boss ever, but I was never told what
to sell, and I was never told what made more money for the store. The policy was
"you're the hiking expert, tell them what you know." The joke about me at the
store was that I talked people out of buying gear more often than not!

What REI wanted was for everyone to become a member and we had incentive rewards
for bringing in most new memberships each month, but that was the only pressure
I felt. 

Of course this doesn't protect you against staff that don't have enough
experience or interest to tailor their recommendations to your needs. Sometimes
that was more of a problem for me - a customer who wants luxury tent camping has
different needs that my own, and sometimes a customer clearly wants to buy
"upscale" when I'm busy pointing out how something cheaper is just as good or
how he can do without it.

The Reading store is not too far away for you, but I imagine Framingham has good
people also. Each staff person has a different background and you're free to ask
about it. Paul is the best for backpacking, I learned a lot from him about
fitting a pack. Others are better for climbing gear, GPS devices, binoculars,
etc. But the important thing is to be outgoing about your needs and concerns.
The more information a customer gave me the better experience for both of us.
And btw, REI was encouraging us to just talk with customers. Yes, if it's busy,
we were told not to get bogged down with a single customer, but it was never
mentioned to me to stop "hanging around" just talking with someone when I should
have been restocking out back.

At $6.50 per hour REI isn't a great career track, and I could have made more
money at Dunkin's or the golden arches. What kept me there was being in touch
with the outdoors and people who loved adventure. If you keep this in mind you
can see how the sales staff can be a big resource for you. 

So go ahead and take a clinic, the schedule for each store is on the website. Go
in and talk, don't buy anything initially. Check out web gear reviews also -
there are at-l members who regularly test gear and write reviews. And I agree
about the REI return policy, it's great. --RockDancer (no longer affiliated with
REI)

-----Original Message-----
From: at-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:at-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On
Behalf Of KLandau364 at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 1:43 AM
To: at-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [at-l] Need REI Help

Does anyone on the list either work at the REI in Framingham, Massachusetts or
know someone that you can vouch is knowledgeable and trustworthy?
 
My sister, who lives in the area, and her family want to do some  backpacking
this summer...something with which they have little  experience.  I've gone over
the basics with her of what she needs, but she  needs someone to guide her
through the actual selection of gear.  She's  afraid of being taken advantage of
by someone trying to "up-sell" her or sell  her stuff she doesn't really need.
She has some items already, but doesn't  know which, if any, of those would work
on a backpacking/camping trip.  In  either case, she'll still need a good amount
of new gear, and doesn't want  to spend a fortune outfitting her family of 4.
 
Please email me off-list with any suggestions of folks at that REI store  who
might be of good help to her.
 
Thanks,
Ken/Walkabout '99