SEATTLE (BRAIN) — REI Co-op CEO Mary Beth Laughton shared a three-year strategic plan with employees, saying the company will have to make difficult decisions to grow sales and build customer trust.
Laughton, who succeeded Eric Artz earlier this year after leading Nike's global retail and digital D2C operations, did not say what the plan's "tough choices" will be implementing the Peak 28: Ascending Together strategy.
Outlined in the plan, REI will:
- Build trust by showing up for our customers consistently through the products, experiences and service REI provides.
- Stay competitive, raise our own bar and challenge ourselves to be not just the best co-op, but also the best retailer.
- Build emotional connections and loyalty with people who love the outdoors while serving beginners to experts.
"As we do so, we must put our customers at the center of everything we do," Laughton wrote.
Among four "strategic pillars" to reach company objectives was reinventing membership. "Update our membership program with highly differentiated offerings to deepen engagement with customers, embody our co-op values and foster financial growth."
In May, when REI announced its yearly net sales, it said a million new members joined in 2024, with its total now more than 25 million.
Net sales for 2024 declined 6.2% year-over-year as Laughton acknowledged a challenging marketplace. Net sales for the year were reported at $3.53 billion, compared with $3.76 billion in 2023. Net loss for the year was $156.4 million, compared with $214.6 million in 2023.
"Making these shifts will not be easy; they'll require us to fundamentally transform, make difficult choices and evolve the way we work over the next few years," Laughton wrote. "We know this plan is ambitious, but we also know it's possible. And it's crucial, because this plan is not about getting back to what the co-op used to be. It's about climbing the challenging peak that's in front of us, putting the co-op on more solid footing and building our capabilities to climb the next peaks that are even higher, together."
