REI — Local services in City of Ithaca

I’ve been an REI member ever since I left Ithaca so it’s nice to see this trusted, high quality outdoors brand open up in my home town. I’ve seen people who’ve never been into outdoor activities get started going to the classes offered at REI so I do hope that REI expands the number of people who are hiking, walking, paddling and so forth and encourages people to take advantage of the incredible natural areas we have around the fingerlakes. I also am a big fan of their tents, one of which has served me for hundreds of nights in countless beautiful places over the past decade.

On the other hand, I am worried that this will compete with some truly exceptional local outdoors companies — Finger Lakes Running Company, the Ithaca Outdoor Store, Cayuga Ski and Cyclery etc.

Ithaca is also a union town and despite being a b-corp that started as a cooperative, REI is guilty of some truly shady union busting tactics. Ithaca workers deserve good wages and benefits and any large, out of town corporation that sets up shop but doesn’t let their workers organize is just seeking to suck the blood out of small towns like ithaca. Hopefully REI learns from Starbucks and lets their workers organize, otherwise they can go...

The staff at this branch are AWESOME! Buuuut the store in Ithaca is kind of a facade of REI. There’s plenty of tshirts and pants and knickknacks, but there’s an embarrassing lack of technical gear: one small display of kayaking supplies, limited footwear, and all the climbing gear in the shop appears to be gear that customers have returned. I thought EMS had been anemic, but I find myself missing them now.

So, the staff is great, the clothing and backpacks are well stocked, but call ahead if you’re looking for something in particular. If you’re climbing, sadly, online continues to be...

Traveled two hours to this REI to get a new bike and it was worth the trip! I was afraid it was going to be an intimidating process but Mark was super friendly and made it a breeze. He helped me out and had me test ride two bikes and was very knowledgeable. This experience made me even more excited to start my...