REI

I shop at REI too much — they have great gear for any outdoor activity you can think of. Lots of selection and friendly staff.

I shop at REI… A LOT. I like the knowledgable employees, the wide selection of gear and clothing and the annual dividends. So far I have shopped at the Redmond, Issaquah, Seattle, Bellingham and Lynnwood locations in Washington and the Redmond location has proven to be the most friendliness, most helpful, most patient, most knowledgable with a nice selection of all goods.
Time and time again the Redmond employees have helped me pick out the best snowshoes, best hiking boots and trail runners, best raincoat, best socks and under layers, best hiking poles, etc. I was just in there today and the gal on the register was smiley, nice to talk to and VERY patient with some returns that I had. I wish I got her name but she was short with dark hair shaved on the sides. Hats off to her! I also bought a pair of trail running shoes and the nice girl suggested the perfect low ankle wool socks to suit the shoes.
Now that summer is around the corner I anticipate spending a lot of time at this location for more adventures!

Pretty good selection of stuff
Carries gortex
Friendly customer service
Must stop if you’re a jacket person

Thanks to James for all the help yesterday! Store was very busy but he took the time to help me re-​up my whole snowboarding setup. He went back multiple times to find sizes and patiently explained all the new tech to me (haven’t shopped for gear in 15 years). Thanks again James, I really appreciate you taking the time!

Better selection than the Issaquah REI. Busy on weekends, and had to wait to test the bike

Rei is a touchstone of seattle outdoor activities. Granted a little pricey, and many of the items can be labeled as ‘camping accessories for people who don’t camp, but want to look like they do’.
That said, Rei has a lot of great items that we can’t find anywhere else and make life bearable. Also, great for when you want to kill an hour with folks that have similar outdoorsy interests. See: Biking, Camping, Dog Stuff, Clothing, Bags, Climbing Gear, and the best socks money can buy.
Seriously, buy their socks, your feet will thank you.

The customer service here is fantastic. Yesterday I had two bike tires explode on me when replacing a flat. So after getting throughly frustrated I brought my wheel in to see what the heck was going on. Long story short Abbie in the repair shop was a wish come true. Explained to me that I might have been getting a pinch flat, showed me how to properly avoid that problem and didn’t even charge me for all of it. James the day before was just as sharp and friendly. Great staff at this rei and I will be a returning shopping. Just too much fun stuff in this store.

Shopping for a warm jacket. Yes, there are some people who still need jackets in summer :)
Found a staff member very helpful in evaluating jackets. She was knowledgeable about what constitutes a warm jacket in addition to pointing out brand differences.
I ended up returning this because it wasn’t warm enough. Friday night checkout lines were LONG. I guess this is the Friday happening place LOL.

Came in to buy a single item. Then sat in a time warp during check out. Co-​op service-​free zone. Checkers were moving in slow motion. They should reorganize. Had to leave without making purchase. Will shop online in future. Better use of valuable time.

REI has the best customer service! Apparently everyone in the PNW is hiking this weekend and there are no Microspikes in a 3 state region. My lovely shopping assistant (Sarah) refuses I buy anything less for St Helens and instead lends me hers! This is so refreshing in a day and age where customer service is doled out by automated machines and unenthusiastic underpaid teenagers. Way to go REI you have my loyalty from here on out (except for yoga gear).

I won’t buy anything here again. I took the plunge and spent $ 1,200 on a bike, helmet and a camera. Their communication and service since that point has been abysmal, worse than ‘the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing’, they would be better described based on my experience as ‘the left hand doesn’t know what it is doing and doesn’t know about the right hand’.
Redmond is truly cursed with poor retail outlets, it seems.

The Redmond location has everything you’d expect to see at REI. Knowledgeable, friendly staff and all the active gear your heart desires and then some.
This location is smaller than Seattle, but it gets the job done.

It’s REI. not much else to say, they are amazing. But I will say this is my favorite local location and thwy have good parking and I can bike to it in warm weather off the Burke Gilman trail.
I would normally give 5 stars but when I realized my $ 20 off was applied as .20 and had to get balk in line, there was no apology at all and I had to explain the mistake.

The «Nordstrom» for the outdoor enthusiast. REI is as good as it gets for top notch sporting gear.
It’s not just for campers or hikers anymore either. Yoga, running and cycling gear are all here too.
The best way to make your dollar go further?
GARAGE SALE!
And– bring a list. It’s easy to get sidetracked into expensive water bottles and all sorts of key chains or flashlights that you don’t need.

Our family loves REI and this is a well laid out store. Two story and has the rock climbing wall for kids to climb (price is decent).
We came looking for shoes specifically today. We spent a lot time up there trying on shoes. The workers in that area are swamped but they kept smiling, bringing more shoes. My daughter found a sweet deal in clearance and my boys found hiking boots.
The dressing room was being manned by two ladies but they kept it moving so I didn’t have to wait to try on something.
Downstairs I was looking at hiking guide books. A nice staff member recommended 2 books for the area I wanted. Both were great.
Check out had a wait. Probably could have opened up another register. But we like this store and the staff on our visit was very helpful.

I recently tried owning a Novara Ponderosa from this REI. I was successful in two things: buying it, and returning it.
I could NOT succeed in keeping the bike for a simple reason: it was sold to me in a non-​working fashion; the front rotor was bent, and the front caliper was on at an angle. The rotor was replaced for free after arguing that the bike was sold to me in this fashion and I had not crashed in the less than 24 hours since I had bought it. However, after two more visits complaining about excessive rubbing on the front brake and their techs trying to fix it each time, neither noticed that the caliper was at an angle. They simply moved the caliper to not rub, and handed the bike back to me. The second visit when they handed it back, I checked and it was still rubbing, and they made a second attempt to adjust things again.
Only once home and I did some investigating of my own did I notice that the caliper was at an angle (shining a flashlight up from below and looking down.) I confirmed that on the pads there was a dark line where the rotor was making excessive contact, and the pads were not making total contact with the rotor until I pulled the brakes down hard.
I just decided that I shouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense on a brand new bike, and returned it (they threatened to have the bike «inspected» before I returned it. Once I made it clear I didn’t give two craps about them inspecting it given I had a paper trail of me going back with the bike as early as the day after I had bought it, they just accepted the return without any further questions.)
REI is great for many things, and often has some very knowledgeable people… however, their bike service shop leaves MUCH to be desired. (in the bike area, the only person I got very good help from was a red headed gentleman — I sadly don’t know his name, but he was quite helpful in helping me choose a bike and setting me up with various test rides. He was the sole bright spot in this entire experience.)
As an addendum: seriously guys, get more people on the floor to help out. I shouldn’t have to be looking for help for minutes when trying to ask questions, purchase a bike or get access to a changing room. Their way of locking people out of changing rooms and not having someone attending the downstairs rooms — let alone anyone nearby to let me into the changing room is asinine.

I’ve been an REI customer for a while in a couple of cities. I end up shopping there less often because of prices primarily but when I need a quality item for longer use REI is my first choice.
Why do I like the Redmond Store? First off they’re more laid back, less busy, and to me much nicer than their Seattle big sister. I used to go to the Seattle main store because it;s closer until I realized that I’d much rather find an excuse to stop by the Redmond store. All of the clerks I met in the Redmond store were super helpful and non-​patronizing even with the silliest questions. Immediately after leaving the store with a brand new bike we managed to lose the papers (yeah, they were on top of the car). We called them in and they graciously emailed us a picture of the receipt so we have the serial number of the bike. Very cool.

First of all, reading all the reviews of this REI store, I’m struck by the fact that a large portion of them are actually reviewing Seattle store/​s — not the Redmond Town Center REI. Reader, beware.
I cannot believe I’ve not reviewed this store yet! My kids and I were here for the store opening many years ago. My kids put their handprints in the wet cement outside this store on opening day (where 1^st day customers could legitimately do so, to mark the community involvement surrounding this store), and got t-​shirts and other swag. We’ve been here countless times since, and you know what? THis is one of the few stores that has remained great in terms of quality of merchandise, selection and customer service.
Like Nordstrom’s, the prices here are not cheap. But wow, the quality is super! And if ever there’s a problem, we’ve never had a problem returning anything. Ever. Even after wearing a pair of shoes. They will gladly take them back. Plus they have a nifty reward («dividend») program. Plus all the sales help there are super knowlegable about the equipment and merchandise. I’ve been here to get biking gear, camping gear, swimming gear and hiking gear. All the folks have been super helpful and patient. I’ve taken a few classes here, too, when I was preparing for the Danskin triathlon a few years back. The classes were free and unbelievably helpful for me. My kids used to climb the climbing rock on weekends, too, and they loved that.
This is a great family-​oriented store. There’s stuff for kids and even the family dog. We always get our Keen sandals here, and it’s a fantastic resource (staff, books and equipment) to learn about all outdoor sports and activities. I recently got a bunch of hiking stuff for my kid’s teacher for «Teacher Appreciation Week». They really have everything and are happy to talk to you about it all — with no pressure to buy (which I really appreciate).

I love REI!
I was so excited to find out this REI is walking distance from my current office. Well, on the other hand, it can be very dangerous financially!
I walked over here during lunch time twice so far. The first time, I had to return a pair of gloves that I impulsively purchased and thought I was able to use for cycling. But, no! They processed my return very quickly with no hassels. The 2^nd time, I had to purchase some KT tape for my ankle injury. I walked into the store and asked someone. They directed me to wher the KT tape located immediately. I love it!
Both times, I also purchased Theo Chocolate from the store. It’s probably not necessary. But, hey, dark chocolate is good for you, right! I gotta love REI!

This REI store is a lot smaller than the flagship in Seattle but it is still pretty big all things considered! There are two levels but unfortunately you don’t get the garage sale room of returned items that the flagship store has.
The hat selection is much larger at the flagship but the hat I was interested in was a bit damaged. I found the exact same hat at this REI with little difficulty!
There is a giant rock for climbing near the front of the entrance.