On Saturday we went to the REI in Pittsburgh, though not the one I work at. I wasn't planning on stopping at REI because I figured we had everything we needed. But at some point, we decided to stop at various REIs along the way.
At this point we have stopped at REI Indianapolis, REI St. Louis and REI Overland Park (Kansas). By far, the best of those 3 was St. Louis. Indianapolis and Overland Park are very new and they have a completely different vibe to them. They are much more "retail" and give a very "department store" feel. St. Louis was more like the REIs in Pittsburgh and San Diego, which is what I am accustomed to.
The REI in Overland Park is a stand alone building like REI San Diego. REI Indianapolis is in a plaza like REI Conshohocken (Philladelphia). The St Louis store is in a shopping center similar to the ones in Pittsburgh and Chula Vista (San Diego).
The new REIs had a lot of really neat decor, despite looking like a department store. Their sleeping bag rack was really functional and organized, and their shoe wall was fancy with pegs, lighting and a wall display.
I found it really interesting that St Louis has oars on their doors instead of the traditional ice ax. I'm going to have to ask my store manager about that and see if he knows the story behind that, as I believe he is from the St Louis area.
As far as product goes, they all pretty much had the same things Settler's Ridge (my store) does. I did find that they all seemed to Cary Arc'teryx clothing, where as we really only carry their outerwear. And St Louis had some different snacks, which I got a few of to try.
I also liked this flyer that St Louis had at the registers. This would be great to stick into non-member's bags or staple to their receipts with a membership slip.
I would love to stop at an REI in Colorado, but we are already pushing a 10:00pm arrival into our campsite at Rocky Mountain National Park. I'll save a visit to a CO REI store for another day.
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