I find plenty of stuff at REI that I like and I am nowhere near an "outdoorsman", mostly cold weather gear for riding my motorcycle in the winter. Their prices are pretty much the same as any other national sporting goods store for stuff like The North Face because those companies control their pricing, they do have some good buys on their house brand items which is typically a much higher quality than you find the house brand stuff at Bass Pro or Cabella's. They also tend to stock items that Academy, Dicks and The Sports Authority don't.

Who are the "bargain" outdoor retailers that you are talking about?

Well, I can say the REI's in Denver were significantly more expensive than Sports Authority or some of the independent shops. I don't know about where you are, but outdoorsy places have a lot of competition in Denver so the market conditions may be different. I didn't ever really go to Dicks. I will agree they stock some unique or harder to find things. As I said, its an interesting store to go to a time or 2 a year for entertainment and wander around but for OKC and it's value shopping mindset, I doubt it would be successful here.

What I am saying is that the higher priced items are usually the name brand stuff like The North Face or Patagonia, those companies control what the retailers can sell their product for much like Apple and HP does, if you don't adhere to their pricing policies you no longer receive the merchandise, I have seen it happen. When you see a "sale" for Apple/HP/Sony products that is usually a manufacturer approved price, all the retailers may offer it at that price or it may be rotated, it's why HP stuff at Sam's or Costco is usually less than a 5% difference between them and conventional retailers.

I think here in Austin we may have more options since this is such an outdoor oriented market. There are three REI stores, none like the one in Denver, they are just regular stores here. Dick's opened up earlier this year out in Bee Cave and the one in The Domain just opened up this month. We also have Academy and Sports Authority stores all over and Cabella's just south of Austin. There is a Backwoods store in the same center as the first Dick's and some specialty stores as well like a couple of canoe/kayak stores and a bunch of bicycle and running supply shops, we even have a shop that specializes in triathlete needs.

I think OKC would be a one REI store market and no more, especially as the Olympic training venues get built up.

Perhaps. Lets not decide it needs a city funding subsidy like Bass Pro. I'm glad they located downtown but I am still ticked at how the store was positioned along the canal.

Maybe they would incorporate the grain mill into their store and promote the climbing wall inside.

I think we can support one REI if Austin can support 3 in addition to Dick's, Academy, Cabella's, Backwoods and Sports Authority. Austin isn't THAT much more "outdoorsy".

All we have is crappy Academy. They don't carry the quality or variety that REI does--or even Dick's for that matter.

I still don't like Bass Pro being downtown, I think it belonged further west out on the I-40 corridor like out near Meridian. I am also not a fan of the subsidies that those mega-outdoor stores have received, I know that the Cabela's in Buda has had to pay back some of the jobs money that they received because they didn't meet the goals set forth in the subsidy agreement.

Nobody mentioned the store up by Quail Springs by the Pep Boys....can't remember the name myself. I’ve turned to them for a few things as well. They carry some pretty serious equipment there as far as backpacking stoves and such. Backwoods is a nice high end gear store. I’m just glad that we have it here.

There are a couple of REIs in Las Vegas as well. I’ve been to the Henderson location and picked up a nice REI brand fleece jacket. I’ve shopped the Dallas REIs as well. I would love to have an REI here! Their store brand equipment is generally competitively priced. Not sure if it would be profitable here or not. I’d love to browse their gear in person, but I don’t mind at least having access online to their lineup.

Nobody mentioned the store up by Quail Springs by the Pep Boys....can't remember the name myself. I’ve turned to them for a few things as well. They carry some pretty serious equipment there as far as backpacking stoves and such. Backwoods is a nice high end gear store. I’m just glad that we have it here.

There are a couple of REIs in Las Vegas as well. I’ve been to the Henderson location and picked up a nice REI brand fleece jacket. I’ve shopped the Dallas REIs as well. I would love to have an REI here! Their store brand equipment is generally competitively priced. Not sure if it would be profitable here or not. I’d love to browse their gear in person, but I don’t mind at least having access online to their lineup.

if you are talking about sportsmans warehouse, they went out of business a while back

if you are talking about sportsmans warehouse, they went out of business a while back

No wonder I couldn't find the name online.....bummer! They had some good stuff.