REI — Attraction in Gainesville

I'm late getting to this but I just wanted to take a minute to brag about your staff at the Gainesville, FL store. They were absolutely phenomenal! My significant other and I stopped by your store looking for a pair of shoes for him, we walked out with a lot more lol. This was by the way I think my first time ever going into an REI store. We mostly interacted with John and Zach but the lady working in the shoe department was also helpful that day (I'm so sorry I didn't get her name). Your staff were so attentive, I felt like every 10-20 feet someone was asking us if they could help us with something. I at one point asked about the solo stoves that were there, I asked John if a price match was possible as I found a cheaper one listed online. He went to look into things and then came back to tell me that these were actually on sale; I left with 3 of them (one for us and two others for Christmas gifts, bummed you didn't have more). John also answered several other questions for me and was as pleasant as they come. Both of these gentlemen also insisted on helping us load up our merchandise (I'm usually the type who just takes care or what I need instead of bothering someone). They were so helpful, friendly, and so much more. I hope that as an employer you recognize your quality staff like John and Zach, these guys deserve a raise 👏 🙂 We love your store but love your staff...

I recently made a trip to the REI in Gainseville, Florida. I was taking my younger siblings to buy all the starting hiking gear, boots, backpack, and more. Two exceptionally great employees helped us so much, Damien and Tori.

Tori was patient, measured each of their feet, and kept the hiking boots coming for them to try on. We tried on hiking boots with and without ankle supports, trail runners, and camp sandals. Tori kept the shoes coming, but never made it overwhelming. She provided us with so much knowledge on the fit of each shoe type and how they should feel. She was awesome!

We then went over to the backpacks where Damien (maybe Damen?) helped us fit backpacks. He provided great suggestions inquired about the use of the backpacks, fit the backpacks to each sibling. He made it such a fun process. We ended up going with his great suggestions for backpacks where he put weight into the bags helped my siblings adjust the fittings of the bags and everything. He was a wealth of knowledge on all things camping. He was awesome to work with as well.

I just wanted to pass along how great these two employees were. They helped these new hikers feel comfortable and excited to...

I love the staff here! Every single person I came into contact with was lovely and helpful. I didn’t realize they had a bike repair shop until today. I just happened to have my busted up bike in the back of my car. I went into the store to look at new bikes. I had been jerked around by a local bike repair comes and they had given me a two to two and a half week turnaround time frame. They insisted every store around Gainesville would be like that if not worse in terms of wait time. So I waited. And nearly a month later and no contact, they still had not fixed my bike. So, we went and demanded my bike back immediately and decided to start looking at new bikes. We just happened to see a gentleman walk in before us with a messed up bike and saw him head to the repair shop. They got him fixed up in less than five minutes. I asked another employee what their general turnaround time frame for fixes were and she said 3 DAYS. I went and got my back and asked them to look at it. They fixed it on the spot and charged me exactly ZERO DOLLARS! They will have my business forever because of that. Thank you REI!! You guys...