What do you think of the 'New' EMS?

[thetrailboss]

I'm not sure if many of you have noticed, but over the past year or so they've really stepped up their stores offering new products and better quality stuff. I've noticed that they've dropped some lines including much of the Patagonia and North Face products and substituted items with their own logo...much like LL Bean.

Their stores are also much cleaner and more sportier looking...wasn't sure how I liked it at first, but now I find it appealing.

And the 'Catazine' has been great as well...they're definately trying to boast the image.

I've found that lately I've been looking more at their store brand items, which are reasonably priced, constructed, and offer great features. Before they were good, and I'd often ignore them but now I consider them more seriously.

Your thoughts? OK, enough about EMS...I'm going to shut up (sigh).

[bvibert]

You're really trying to get me in trouble with all this EMS talk, aren't you. In case you didn't notice I was dressed almost entirely in EMS gear last season, I have a habit of going in there "just to look" and walking out with a bunch of stuff. They expanded the store near me at the same time they started the transformation so its hard for me to say about "new look" since the store is all different anyway. I've definately noticed them gradually getting rid of other brand name stuff.

Overall I like the changes.

[MichaelJ]

It's tough for me to say, because I live by a small EMS and invariably they don't have what I need when I need something specific (for example, they dropped the Platypus line). However ... for other things, I'm very pleased that they've turned back from the "outdoor clothier" and gone technical again. The EMS by me has over a dozen kayaks hanging from the ceiling right now, for example.

It does bug me that it can hard to find a store to touch the good name-brand stuff (Dana, Osprey, Mountain Hardwear), though at least I can still get such items from Campmor.

[pizza]

You missed an option - "who cares?" (:

Seriously, EMS' private label line of stuff isn't bad.. But remember - the key is selection. Gotta carry TNF and Mountain Hardwear, not to mention Marmot, Kelty, Lowe Alpine, Mountainsmith, Sierra Designs, Eureka, etc. (I don't know which of these brands they carry, I'm just saying). The reasoning behind a good selection is it really lets you compare stuff side-by-side while making decisions.

Campmor, for example, has a very limited range of private-label gear (basically a couple of sleeping bags, plus clothing), which is indeed sold at a lower price, but when you're in the store you can compare it to all the brands listed above.

So if I were to take a sleek clean store like EMS and compare it to a slighly messy store like Campmor, I'd take Campmor because I know more stuff is there, and EMS has removed stuff to make it look cleaner.

As a business decision, however, EMS is probably better off because most people don't have the perspective that I do.

[kickstand]

I'm an REI member, so I buy most of my gear there.

[riverc0il]

never have been an EMS fan. i have a few items from there, mostly via gift cards. always can not find the quality or item i want in their stores and find their prices generally too high for what they are offering. though i haven't seen them since they apparently changed some stuff around.

the thing that always struck me funny about EMS was the amount of cotton tshirts they had on display. seriously? what person that is serious about their outdoors is buying cotton tshirts? the fact that their stores always seem to be in malls gave me the impression they were an outdoors store for mall shoppers and people with lots of money to blow on average stuff seems like that may have changed. i haven't been in an EMS in about 3 years.

when i was on the north shore, REI in reading got a lot of my money. i was really attracted by the coop factor, but REI is more about SELL SELL SELL than any other outdoor retailer i know of, it's crazy. no sales pitch or high pressure sales people or anything still, but as someone in retail, i tend to pick up on things at stores and i get the feeling REI is trying to get people to buy junk they really don't need. despite my thoughts on how they run their operation, i always find what i want in REI stores and their prices are usually reasonable and sale prices are even better. the dividend is real nice, but unless you buy big ticket, it doesn't amount to much.

[pizza]

Cotton is a low-cost, readily available material that is actually ok for warm-temperature hiking. It has a worse reputation than it deserves. When it's not too hot, it's highly breathable and cool. In extreme heat, your sweat will screw it up, but for most spring and fall hiking situations cotton is just fine.

When I go on a 3-4 hour dayhike I'll throw on a cotton shirt.

[awf170]

Originally Posted by riverc0il

the dividend is real nice, but unless you buy big ticket, it doesn't amount to much.

What are you talking about the dividend is sweet , my family got $3, i think im going to go buy a power bar... what is the percent anyway on it

[riverc0il]

Originally Posted by awf170

What are you talking about the dividend is sweet , my family got $3, i think im going to go buy a power bar... what is the percent anyway on it

i think i got about $3 too, heh. though the year i joined up i got about $50 cause i bought a lot of gear. percent depends on how the coop did that year i think?

i agree pizza, cotton does get a bad rap and is okay for fair weather hikes so long as it is not too warm and you're not sweating much. i rarely hike when i am not sweating though, and i really prefer synthetic regardless of the weather when doing outdoors sports.

[MichaelJ]

The key to the REI dividend is to have the REI credit card. All purchases anywhere with the card earn dividend. Plus, as you know if you use a different card *at REI* your dividend on that purchase is reduced.

I funnel all my repeating payments (gym, storage unit, etc) through the REI card and get a sweet dividend every year.

That said, I'm still about 40:40:20 on my purchases ... REI : EMS : other