Editor’s Note: This is the letter REI publishes from its president detailing financial results for the year.
She reports that sales grew 8.4% to $1.8 billion and profits were flat at $30.2 million.
Dear fellow REI members:
Thanks to your patronage, we are pleased to return a record dividend of $99.8 million to 4.7 million active co-op members, including 841,863 who joined during 2011. Your support enabled us to expand into new markets while adapting our products and services to better serve you in the future. Eight new stores were added from coast-to-coast, including our first foray into New York City in the historic Puck Building in SoHo, and three additional stores in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. We added a new state, South Carolina, through a beautiful new store in Greenville, and expanded our presence in California and Washington. Our websites, rei.com and rei-outlet.com were enhanced to make them faster and easier to use, extended further by a new mobile app, bringing great products, expert advice and detailed product information and reviews to customers on-the-go (available for download at https://www.rei.com/apps).
As noted in our annual financial statements (available here: https://www.rei.com/about-rei/financial-information.html), sales grew by 8.4 percent to $1.8 billion. Profitability was flat to the prior year due to investments in our business and warm weather in the winter that impacted profitability in the critical holiday season. Free shipping for online orders with a minimum order size was introduced, product assortment was deepened, and systems were enhanced to improve our ability to seamlessly deliver the right product to you when, where and how you want.
Through direct engagement in service projects on public lands, and grants that support organizations involved in connecting people to nature and stewardship, your co-op facilitated nearly three million hours of volunteer service in parks, recreation areas and natural spaces across the country. With the board’s support, the co-op dedicates 3% of our annual operating profits to these activities. In addition, we remain committed to enhancing the sustainability of our business, from understanding and reducing the environmental impact of products we manufacture, to reducing our energy consumption through projects such as the use of solar energy to power some of our stores. For more information, please visit the stewardship section of our website at: https://www.rei.com/stewardship.
The co-op’s nearly 11,000 employees, from our retail stores and call center to supporting roles behind-the-scenes, are committed to providing high quality, trustworthy, guaranteed products and services that inspire, educate and outfit people to enjoy and care for the great outdoors. We are also proud to continue to be recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the best places to work for in America.
We wish you much joy in sharing the great outdoors with friends and loved ones or enjoying solitude in a beautiful setting, and look forward to serving you on that journey.
Warmly,
Sally Jewell
President and CEO
