When REI closed their store in the Pearl, I wondered if they realized the folks/causes/politics they support hurt their business.
In early 2018, in response to the shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida, REI stupidly decided to virtue signal by sending out a
statement stating that they would no longer purchase from Vista Outdoors, a company that owns many outdoor brands, including Savage Arms (at the time), because they hadn't said what they're plan was to eliminate those evil black rifles they make. Vista Outdoors later sold Savage Arms, and REI released an
updated statement saying that they were resuming purchases from Vista since they no longer owned Savage.
At the time they put out the first statement, I spent nearly all my hobby funds on backpack hunting gear, and I annually spent thousands of dollars at REI. After receiving the first statement from REI, I waited until I got my annual dividend, took it in the form of a check, and then sent all of it to the NRA. I then sent REI a letter stating that I was done with them and that I took my dividend check and donated it to the NRA so that they could continue to fight for my Second Amendment rights. I know some gun owners don't like the NRA due to Wayne LaPierre (he is a douchebag, after all), but I knew that just seeing "NRA" causes the do-gooders to freak out, so the NRA was the right place to send it, as far as I was concerned.
I haven't set foot in an REI store since. Oddly enough, the one that was 30 minutes from my home closed up in January 2019. Coincidence? I think not. Don't mess with Texans!
