My call is REI sees the writing on the wall. Conventional retail is dying and a brick and mortar retailer is not going to compete on price. Folks may go in the store to check out gear but many will be on their smartphone checking out the lowest cost place to buy the same product on line while in the store or when they get home. EMS was long ago bought out by an old-time discount retailer, just beating a dead horse to get a few more sales before the brand is totally diminished. The local staff over the years have tried hard and offered the climbing school and ties with guides but once they moved into the new place under one of the myriads of new owners, they became far more retail rather than an outfitter.
The REI target business model is offer the Experiences and folks will gear up at the store before and then after the Experience. Beans has been using this model for years with their Outdoor Discovery School in the Freeport Maine area. Standard SOP for local mountain guiding services is to have a gear check of incoming participants in advance of the big event. Inevitably folks are missing gear, or the gear they have is borderline or they are already emotionally and financially invested in the activity and figure some new gear may make up for lack of conditioning and experience. After the gear check and before the “big hike” they are going to go out to whatever local store is convenient and slap the credit card down with far less thought. I have heard folks speculate over the years is that’s how the IME model works. REI is cutting out the middleman and offering the “guided” experience and just happens to stock the needed (or wanted) gear (same thing EMS used to do when they were up the road). Folks are basically paying for a rolling advertisement along with their Experience. Even if the event is free, REI is converting themselves from a store to a “partner” that is helping a potential customer out in having a better outdoor experience. Far easier to buy retail from a “partner” than a store.
The other factor is the Mt Washington Valley is going higher end. All the new construction in the area is high end condos and homes along with national brand hotels. High end folks on vacation tend not to haggle or price check, just throw the credit card down and buy. REI just needs to get the visibility to be the place they throw their card down. The visitors don’t know the local stores so they tend to default on a name they know and REI is the one. The only other big-name folks would recognize is Beans (conveniently right next door) and since opening in the area 25 plus years ago they have never attempted to be an “outfitter”, they have always been the standard factory outlet where they got rid of overstocks and returned items from the mothership.
It would be interesting what the behind the scenes dynamics on why REI has elected to bypass a direct tie in with AMC (Note AMC is member of the White Mountain Trails collective and indirectly benefits from REI money). Could it be that AMC decided that they wanted to be purist and not accept tainted commercial REI money? Or did REI pick up that AMC has some long term “baggage” in the valley? AMC has a lot of former employees spread around the region and as the proposed new hut in Crawford Notch proposal a few years ago brought up, many of the former employees are not fans. AMC also has tended to stick to the summits over the years, not really getting involved with the Mt Washington Valley. Sure, there is some local outreach to schools but rarely does one see AMC sponsoring activities. AMC is regarded as an old school Boston based hiking club to many younger visitors and REI is going for a broader recreational market that AMC is perceived not to be interested in.