REI sells camping gear, hiking, climbing, cycling, water, running, fitness, snow, travel equipment, and men, women and kids clothing.

The Andersons had imported an Akadem Pickel ice axe from Austria, for themselves, as part of The Mountaineers Basic Climbing Course; from there, the two decided to set up a co-operative to help other outdoor enthusiasts in the club acquire good-quality climbing gear at reasonable prices.

[citation needed] During their first year, Recreational Equipment was a shelf at the Puget Sound Cooperative Store, a farmer's co-op near Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Whittaker served as CEO during the 1960s[5] and was an early board member, along with American Alpine Club president, Nicholas Clinch.

[6] When Whittaker became the first American to summit Mount Everest in May of 1963, it provided REI with so much free advertising that, the following year (1964), the company’s gross income topped $1mil for the first time.

Later on, in the 1980s, and with changes to their board of directors, REI’s emphasis expanded to also include camping, kayaking, bicycling, and other outdoor activities.

The company acquired nearby outdoor gear firm Mountain Safety Research in 1981, which later bought tent-maker Edgeworks and produced tents with the MSR brand.

REI kept MSR until 2001, when it exited the manufacturing business, selling the operation to Cascade Designs,[8] another successful outdoor gear company in the Seattle area.

Jewell remained CEO of REI until she was named United States Secretary of the Interior in April of 2013.

[14] On Black Friday of 2015, REI "did the unexpected" by closing all of their stores and temporarily halting the processing of online purchases, giving all of their employees a paid day off.

The layoffs were attributed to the need to return REI to profitability amidst a challenging economic environment, with the company experiencing a decline in outdoor gear sales following a pandemic boom.

[24] The sale of the new headquarters campus was announced in August 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with REI corporate employees shifting to remote work.

[25] The company has five flagship stores in major U.S. cities that include event rooms and indoor climbing walls.

[27] It was followed by flagship locations in Bloomington, Minnesota; the Uline Arena in Washington, D.C.;[28] New York City; and Denver, Colorado.

[26] REI is owned by its active members, persons who have paid a lifetime membership fee, which is currently $30.

[40] Since 2013, REI workers have been publicly organizing around workplace issues such as living wages, erratic and insufficient scheduling, access to benefits like healthcare, and safety protocols.

[46] In April, its Eugene, Oregon, location filed a petition for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board.