dictating

“REI asks vendor companies to improve business practices by the end of 2021

Brands who want to keep their products on REI's shelves must update their business strategy to incorporate new diversity, equity, and inclusion standards, as well as more aggressive sustainability practices, by next December.”

I read the above headline in the snews online publication for the outdoor industry. I the read a lot of the dictatorial requirements set forth that vendors have to adhere too.

When I got to the line referring to sleeping bags it did not mention a word that the supplier of the sleeping bags had to be truthful about the temperature rating for each bag model. If REI wants to sell sleeping bags, the most important piece of equipment anyone going into the great outdoors takes they need that REI should require that each vendor of sleeping bags prove that the bags being sold to REI perform as they the vendor state.

It should also be noted that REI also has bags made for them in I guess China and they also do not rate their bags correctly either. They can get their old friend FRED (attesting machine) out of mothball to test their bags. Of course, when they did use FRED they never were able/capable of generating accurate information anyway.

Sustainability practices are a joke as far as I am concerned, does REI sell any product that is sustainable, maybe a few but certainly the large majority of what the do sell will not last more than a year before it is ready for the land fill. But, wait they want their customers back to return then for some sort of credit towards a new purchase. Do you know what that is called; “ PLANNED OBSOLECENCE”.

The companies that sell product to REI I suspect know how to treat their employees other wise they would not last very long and for REI to dictate to their vendors is an insult to them. This is just one more reason why I am pleased to say I do not nor will Wiggy’s ever do business with them.

That said, REI stocks their shelves with merchandise that is made in Asia. It is as cheap as they can get because they really do not want to see the Asian people get better wages, even though they REI talks about it.

Back to the way they deal with sleeping bags or their “no sleep sleeping bags”, they can improve their own business practice when it comes to sleeping bags if the “honestly” learned what it takes to make a sleeping bag which they do not know now.

Because they have grown to be a large company, they believe they can dictate to the rest of the industry how things should be. There attitude towards sleeping bags is abysmal because they have learned over the last easily 20 years what they sell fails to perform. The reason they have these return programs of used garments is for the same reasons.

REI should look into their own business practices versus dictating to other companies in the industries ways of doing business.