SEATTLE (BRAIN) — Despite not making a profit in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, REI Co-op will issue members member credits equivalent to what they would have earned. The credits are commonly referred to as member dividends.
REI's vice president of marketing, Vivienne Long made the announcement in a REI Co-op Journal post. Credits will be posted in members' accounts on March 1 and will amount to the usual 10% back on eligible full-price purchases.
"We were one of the first retailers to proactively close all of our stores last spring, as the significance of the pandemic began to take shape," Long wrote. "What we first thought might last a week or two ended up stretching for nearly two months. And while we ended the year in a strong financial position, with a healthy cash balance and no debt, our temporary store closure and great challenges posed by the pandemic meant we ended 2020 without making a profit."
REI closed all of its stores in March and began limited store reopenings in May.
According to Long, REI added nearly one million new members in the past year, while offering curbside pickup and virtual outfitting to adjust to its members' and customers' new pandemic shopping habits.
REI also made news in September after announcing it sold its new corporate office to Facebook for $390 million and would transition to satellite locations to give employees more remote working options. Earlier this week, it announced its first satellite office location in Issaquah, Washington, where it will test a plan to allow employees to work up to five days a week from home. It will be 68,876 square feet and have a 400-employee capacity post-pandemic.
