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Mary Anderson, a Founder of the Outdoor Cooperative REI, Dies at 107
- arkis22 9y ago107. Holy cow. Dude did something right.
- zzalpha 9y agoYes, she did...
- helthanatos 9y agoWhy italicize she?
- acdx 9y agoBecause it's a correction
- rwc 9y ago"Dude" is typically understood to be male.
- Aloha 9y agoWhere I grew up Dude is typically non-gendered.
- stephenhuey 9y agoI've used dudette frequently over the decades.
- Aloha 9y agoeither-or really.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- throwaway9475 9y agoSo clearly we should all look at language through the lens of your childhood experiences. Got it.
- throwaway9475 9y agoLotta male tears here, but then again, it's Hacker News...
- dang 9y agoPlease stop posting unsubstantive comments.
- throwaway9475 9y agoPlease go fuck yourself. :)
- helthanatos 9y agoYep. I've never seen anyone get offended by it unless they were joking. Dude is normally the same as saying yo.
- seanp2k2 9y agoYep: https://youtu.be/BVj8peo1WGo https://youtu.be/BVj8peo1WGo
- draw_down 9y agoWomen can be dudes.
- freshyill 9y agoBecause italicizing words implies emphasis.
- nebabyte 9y agoGot a sex change to fool the grim reaper. Brilliant
- oh_sigh 9y agoFun fact: 'Dude' is has no implied gender in many parts of the world that use the word. Same with 'guys'.
- reddytowns 9y agoYou've heard the song, "Dude looks like a lady", right? It would make the title a lot less impactful if this was generally accepted.
- oh_sigh 9y agoYou've heard the song, "A Boy Named Sue", right? It would make the title a lot less impactful if this was generally accepted.
- reddytowns 9y agoI don't follow.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- ohblahitsme 9y agoIn California, dude is not gendered.
- djrogers 9y agoI've lived in California for 27 of my 41 years, about equally split between SoCal and Northern California, and I have never heard someone call a woman 'dude' without it being a mistake or a joke.
- stonogo 9y agoI've lived in California longer than you and for a higher percentage of my life. Born and raised: dude is not a gender-specific term.
- nl 9y agoThe Atlantic notes that women use "dude" to address other women[1]. I'm not from California, and I'd agree that the most typical usage seems to be towards men, but I have heard women refer to other women as "dude". [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/dude-transcends/309528/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/dude-tr...
- kaitai 9y agoThere are two distinct uses of "dude". One is as an exclamation (not a form of address). "Dude, I'd never do that" is the approximate example in the article, and a woman might say that to another woman. She is not calling the other woman a dude. Test this claim by trying the following: "Man, I'd never do that." "Gentleman, I'd never do that." "Fellow, I'd never do that." etc. The use of "man" and "dude" as an exclamation has made it into everyday conversation. "Man that sucks!" has become an expression of dismay devoid of gender and indeed not even directed at any particular human. Then there is the use of "dude" to refer to a specific person (singular). This is a very rare use of "dude" in reference a woman, and usually is used as commentary rather than a literal descriptor, or ironically. "She's such a dude." It is definitely making a comment on gender or stereotypes. I would be very confused if you referred to me as a dude in everyday conversation, wondering what you were trying to say. On the other hand, I did recently say about myself, "I'm such a dude" when making a comment about my approach to an unfortunately often-gender-stereotyped activity, housekeeping.
- coldpie 9y agoIt's a shame your otherwise interesting point got sidetracked by a regional disagreement of definitions. Let's get back on track. That was my first thought too. Just think about living to 107. That would mean she was born in (or around) 1910. A child during WW1, before cars were commonplace; a young adult during the great depression; an adult during WW2; the expansion of suburbs; through Vietnam, the computer revolution of the 80s, the Internet in the 90s... it must be amazing to observe that kind of time span first hand. A lot happens in a century.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- macNchz 9y agoI have a lot of appreciation for the fact that, despite how large the company has become, it's very clear that outdoorsiness is still a big part of the REI's DNA, especially with so many companies these days owned by private equity firms that seem to be most interested in milking their brands for all they're worth.
- mbesto 9y agoIt's worth noting that REI is a co-op, which means it's owners are actually it's customers.
- freshyill 9y agoI've got annual checks sitting here somewhere for both me and my wife. They're never huge, since REI sells such expensive stuff, we never spend much. I think both of our checks add up to around $50. Still, it's nothing to sneeze at.
- Bartweiss 9y agoI'd never actually dealt with a co-op before REI. The profits shared aren't huge, but combined with the membership discount it's often cheaper than shopping online resellers. I'm impressed.
- mbesto 9y agoWell technically speaking, REI profits aren't huge because its a retailer. You're looking at generally 2-10% margin businesses.
- Bartweiss 9y agoYeah, I don't meant to imply they're shortchanging anyone - retail sales are tough even on higher-margin goods like outdoor gear. I was just comparing to online retailers, where profit-share + member discount brings them to rough parity.
- oh_sigh 9y ago
- ejlangev 9y agoWhat a great company, always feel like they have good products, good sales, and helpful employees. Never regretted buying something from REI.
- hueving 9y agoExcept for the insane prices for everything, sure. It's great for people with money to burn, but it's definitely not a good place to shop if you're into outdoor activities and not rich.
- dirtae 9y agoWhere do you recommend shopping for outdoors gear that offers a significantly better value than REI? The gear at REI is not cheap, for sure, but it's also high quality. You can get cheaper gear at big box stores and discounters, but it will also fall apart more quickly, often negating the lower price. When shopping for gear, I look around and check Backcountry.com, Moosejaw, and other retailers, and on average, REI's prices are not out of line with those other shops. And, of course, if you pay full price for something at REI, you get 10% back as a dividend at the end of the year, and REI's return policy is very generous.
- avar 9y agoA lot of mountaineering gear costs a lot, but lasts for a really long time. It's like buying a car in some ways. So your go-to solution should be to buy used. There's no shortage of people who bought an $800 backpack along with $2000 of other gear, who thought they'd be using them regularly, who later find out that they made a significant investment in a hobby they don't care much about. Unless you're swimming in money buying gear from those people should be your first choice. Knowing what to buy is also a huge factor. E.g. the market for backpacks is a bit like the market for racing bikes. You can easily end up spending 3-4x what you actually need because you're convinced that you need the latest & greatest. A bit like the weekend warriors who buy $4000 carbon fiber racing bikes to shave of a couple of kilos, which, unless you're competing, is a complete waste of money.
- nether 9y agoWhat type of rope coiling is that on Mr. Anderson's shoulder?
- scottcha 9y agoLooks like a daisy chain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75XNCMKW7XE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75XNCMKW7XE
- bmj 9y agoTechnical climbers will often refer to this as an electrician's coil[0] because a daisy chain[1] is a specific type of runner. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaEv9wm6gy0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaEv9wm6gy0 [1] https://www.rei.com/product/113898/black-diamond-12mm-dynex-daisy-chain https://www.rei.com/product/113898/black-diamond-12mm-dynex-...
- semi-extrinsic 9y agoThe electrician's coil is very nice, especially the quick unraveling. I always re-tie survival bracelets into these kinds of braids - I dunno who has five minutes to untie their regular-braid survival bracelets in case of emergency.
- code4tee 9y agoREI is a great company
- subpixel 9y agoAs a member, I get an annual dividend from REI. I can assure you that sending customers money is a great way to engender loyalty.
- jonknee 9y agoWell your "dividend" is simply a portion of what you bought. Sort of like a rewards credit card, they're not actual dividends.
- subpixel 9y agoSort of like a rewards credit card, but without having to apply for, or carry around, or remember to use an additional credit card.
- jonknee 9y agoOr REI could just charge lower prices... But hey, if you like giving them a free loan for most of the year so you can get excited to receive it back then by all means.
- regulation_d 9y agoI guess it depends on how you look at it. I think technically the "dividend" is a refund on an overpayment. Which is kind of like them saying, "Hey, why don't you give us money as membership fee and and we'll give you a 10% discount. Then you're going to overpay on all your goods by 10%. And we're going to hold on to that money, interest-free for you for like a year or whatever, but eventually we'll give it back."
- snowwrestler 9y agoThe dividend is like a profit-sharing plan.
- SnacksOnAPlane 9y agoREI is my favorite toy store. I know their prices are higher than, say, Wal-Mart, but I actually feel good supporting them. Plus, you can find insanely good sales if you're a member and you go to their garage sales. One year I got an entire ski setup (boots, skis, bindings, and installation) for under $300. Ended up reselling them for like $500 3 years later when I moved away from Boston. Got great boots at a garage sale for like $30, too. You just have to be prepared to get there early and scavenge.
- devy 9y ago> REI is my favorite toy store. It's mine too. Do they advertise garage sales or you have to be friends with the store manager to get the scoop?
- SnacksOnAPlane 9y agoThey normally advertise them.
- radnor 9y agoIt was March 18th this year - https://www.rei.com/promotions/garage-sale https://www.rei.com/promotions/garage-sale
- praneshp 9y agoThey advertise them. Just go to the store's page, for example Mountain View is at https://www.rei.com/stores/mountain-view.html https://www.rei.com/stores/mountain-view.html
- rconti 9y agoYou can absolutely find better deals elsewhere, but I find once I get my ~10% back at the end of the year, it all averages out. And anyway, I like supporting such a consumer (member?)-friendly company, and their return policy is top notch. I don't think twice about returning crap gear, and they don't think twice about accepting it -- and it feels like it benefits all of the members, because it feels like they care about my complaints and they likely won't sell the same junk for much longer. Whereas it feels like other stores will just sell whatever makes money.
- Paul-ish 9y agoWhy aren't more businesses run as coops owned by either the workers or the customers?
- lastofus 9y agoI would imagine it comes down to having the initial capital to start such a venture. Those with the capital retain ownership and reap the future returns. If there was a way coops could raise significant funds to start say a big box chain store, we might see more of them. I don't think small business loans quite cut it here.
- Paul-ish 9y agoIf this is true, I wonder if this is inherent in the way markets work, or a result of the way we (government, society, whatever) have structured things.
- lastofus 9y agoI think it's inherent in the way markets work, or more specifically, how people operate in a mostly free market. On the one hand, the market remains this way where people with money are more easily able to make large sums of money through investment, by making their money do the work. The system in this sense is self-perpetuating, but strictly speaking, doesn't have to be this way. On the other hand, as a thought experiment, imagine a magic wand was waved and all capital and resources were evenly distributed across the national or even global population. The world would still be left with an inequality of people's ability to earn each others money. Those with good health, savvy business sense, in-demand skills, and knowledge of production would quickly start down the path of quickly earning, while others are left only spending. I don't think it would take very long to end up right back where we are today.
- iamatworknow 9y agoBecause that means less money for the people on top. Most people don't start a business out of altruism.
- davidw 9y agoI wish we had 'Decathlon' in the US. It's kind of similar to REI, but the gear is much cheaper, and in some cases of more modest quality (but still quite functional rather than 'cheap crap'). This is a great tradeoff to make if you're pretty casual about this or that activity and not ready to invest the big bucks.
- justinator 9y agoDecathlon just reminded me of Sports Authority or Dicks or something like that. Except, you know: French.
- davidw 9y agoI found their stuff to be a bit better than the 'cheap outdoor stuff' places in the US. It's not super high quality, but it seems to get the job done and not fall apart.
- anon263626 9y agoREI usually has fantastic gear good enough to not have to seek out specialty stores. Just one example: I got a better, rugged water bottle (7 gal) for less that the cost of the crappy (3 gal) one offered by the local water store. If you needed an ultracompact sleeping-bag and tent for protesting in North Dakota winters, REI probably carries it. Or climbing gear. Or a titanium spork.