@DPLongo22 any sesquipedalian would be wise to know floccinaucinihilipilification.
That's my second favorite "F" word!
Anybody else take an especially long drag when this guy comes on YouTube?
https://youtube.com/shorts/dDOw95YQorg?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/dDOw95YQorg?feature=share
A friend of mine who grew up (and only ever knew) in Manhattan moved out to Astoria back in the late 90s. I helped her move. When we got everything put away, she said, "Look! There's a tree outside my window! I'm going to love being out in the country!!"
About 15 years ago when my son was working as an associate at REI, REI decided to open 2 stores in New York City. One in Brooklyn and the other maybe in Yonkers.
The corporate strategy was to hire locals to work in the stores. That was a challenge. It was near impossible to find anyone with any knowledge yet alone experience being in the outdoors. So they wound up with a crew of city dwellers some never even having seen Central Park. Cement and asphalt was all these folks knew about.
So he became part of a team REI send to train the new recruits in the ways of the outdoors; backpacks, sleeping bags, cooking gear, etc. He said the most challenging was orientation using compass and maps before moving on to demonstrating the use of GPS for navigation.
Graduation day was a field trip day hike in the Catskills to see what they learned. He said most were very nervous about going out into the wilderness. But once they were on a well marked trail they couldn't belief there were actually trails marked so you could take a hike in the woods and not get lost.
I've no idea if those stores 'made it'. It sure was a gamble on REI's part but they wanted to bring the outdoors to the city.
The corporate strategy was to hire locals to work in the stores. That was a challenge. It was near impossible to find anyone with any knowledge yet alone experience being in the outdoors. So they wound up with a crew of city dwellers some never even having seen Central Park. Cement and asphalt was all these folks knew about.
So he became part of a team REI send to train the new recruits in the ways of the outdoors; backpacks, sleeping bags, cooking gear, etc. He said the most challenging was orientation using compass and maps before moving on to demonstrating the use of GPS for navigation.
Graduation day was a field trip day hike in the Catskills to see what they learned. He said most were very nervous about going out into the wilderness. But once they were on a well marked trail they couldn't belief there were actually trails marked so you could take a hike in the woods and not get lost.
I've no idea if those stores 'made it'. It sure was a gamble on REI's part but they wanted to bring the outdoors to the city.
You've got me beat by a few years. I think I joined when my son was about 12 years old and we took to the outdoors. So that would make me a member for about 40 years.
My son really liked working there, he even got an award for employee of the year once. Which earned him a free trip to their home base in Seatle where they placed a brick with his name on it on the plaza outside the HQ building.
He and his wife had a fun week of outdoor activities hosted by REI Corp.
He finally left when top leadership changed and they started managing all the stores from HQ. Down to what inventory to have on hand and how to arrange the displays in the store. He said it took all the incentive away to run the store and manage inventory, etc. The associates started feeling like puppets with their strings being pulled from Seatle.
REI has changed a lot over the years. Been a while since I was in one. The young lady who helped me check out was impressed that I knew my member number off the top of my head. There was no one who seemed to have any particular expertise there. I’m sure the manager did. He didn’t make a good impression on me at the time. That was at the Yonkers store which has since closed. Too bad. They were set up right by some trails right off the back of the store. The lower Manhattan store is still going strong.. Much better location for retail.
Same here. I was around 12 when I joined scouts, though, I was actually recruited early so I could go on my first 50 mile hike (I believe it was actually around 70 miles) through the Sisters Mountains in Oregon. We used to earn REI points for various attendances and being in full uniform. Each point was worth 5 cents, and if you were super active, you get up to $200 in credits. We'd then spend the night waiting outside the REI at Jantzen Beach the night before their anniversary sales.
I still shop there, mostly online. My last purchase a year ago was a Neso beach shade. I was a little disappointed when they discontinued their lifetime warranty policy. Oh, well. I still have my red Goretex jacket I bought from that first sale and it still works, though the lining on the inside seams have fallen away. Maybe if I spent some time with some tent sealer I could fix it.
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