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11-28-2019, 02:02 PM #1
Mountain equipment coop loses $11M last year
You know I thought opening another store in Calgary (there's two there already) was a stupid idea, but apparently they've had a few other stupid ideas lately...
Hope they can turn it around. Their return policy is gold, and they generally have what you need. Sort of like Canada's REI I figure.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...o-op-1.5375846“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
www.mymountaincoop.ca
This is OUR mountain - come join us!
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11-28-2019, 03:03 PM #2Registered User
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I don't buy near as much from them as I used to , probably cuz I have 2 of everything or maybe its their product line?
And do they really need so many stores and it would be nice if they got back to their roots which was cutting edge out door gear ?
You meet 60-70 year old folks who were in the UBC Varsity outdoor club and they have double or triple digit membership numbers,
now there are 5 million+ membersLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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11-28-2019, 03:07 PM #3Registered User
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I found it odd that they started carrying skis. Their prices are not at all competitive so I have no idea how they move them.
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11-28-2019, 03:33 PM #4Registered User
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I welcome Decathlon to Canada. MEC is wack.
This guy put it well
http://www.voteforsteve.ca/
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11-28-2019, 04:13 PM #5
That’s too bad.theres still good deals to be had there. I just got some water bottles, nikwax and a “sweet” helmet a few days ago. So easy. I don’t think they need more brick and mortar. They have a very good website. I think that’s their strength. I use it for weights too. Likeany outdoor business these days, you really have to know your clientele and crunch your numbers really really well on what sells. The market is so saturated, there’s no room for margin errors let alone huge stock margin errors
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11-28-2019, 04:36 PM #6
Good memories of buying their house brand packs, outerwear etc many yrs ago when I lived in Seattle. Definitely good value. I remember them selling somewhat obscure ski brands from Yurp that were hard to find elsewhere, but that was before the boom in internetz retailing.
Hope they figure shit out.
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11-28-2019, 06:25 PM #7indentured servant
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meh, they can't compete with Canadian Tire Corp. and win and they can't compete with individual specialty retailers anymore either if the independent knows what they are doing...
what's orange and looks good on hippies?
fire
rails are for trains
If I had a dollar for every time capitalism was blamed for problems caused by the government I'd be a rich fat film maker in a baseball hat.
www.theguideshut.ca
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11-28-2019, 07:29 PM #8
Been a member since the mid-80s. Always been more interested in the gear than the fashion they peddled. And their own brand of packs I always gave serious consideration to. My patronage has taken a serious dive over the past couple decades - too much fashion and soft goods over the hardware. And competition for my hardware dollars is greater once the other retail players adjusted to the market MEC created. That, too much brick & mortar investment, and corporate board parasitism IMO - the overhead doesn't justify the margins. I wish them luck but something has to give.
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11-28-2019, 11:36 PM #9
Once they offered the packs and canned the Serratus brand they lost my respect. Then they started bringing in things you could by anywhere. Patagonia, etc. Next it was bikes, no point to that and Burton both of those screwed small businesses which again lost them respect. Poor choices in top of poor choices.
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11-29-2019, 07:49 AM #10Registered User
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20 years ago I looked forward to my annual visit to MEC, checking out and stocking up on gear. Now I’m bombarded with incredible deals, shipped to my door, every day of the year. I don’t even buy at regular pro-deal prices anymore, as they even have regular sales. In the outdoor gear space, unless you’re providing a skilled service (ie. boot fitting or bike servicing) or impulse buying opportunities, bricks and mortar retailing seems very challenging.
Blogging at www.kootenayskier.wordpress.com
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11-29-2019, 11:56 AM #11
Green GAP sucks.
Bring back the mountain.
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11-29-2019, 12:42 PM #12
^ I have a couple riding friends who refer to it as MEC (they say 'Mech') and it annoys me more than it probably should.
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11-29-2019, 01:02 PM #13indentured servant
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Many
Empty
Compartments
maybe not so much anymore but back in the day, drive in to get a Victorinox Swiss army knife or something only they carried and nothing in stockwhat's orange and looks good on hippies?
fire
rails are for trains
If I had a dollar for every time capitalism was blamed for problems caused by the government I'd be a rich fat film maker in a baseball hat.
www.theguideshut.ca
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11-29-2019, 04:04 PM #14Registered User
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I used to love the hard copy catalogue and when it arrived I think the ski season was right around the corner, a lot of them ended up in the John as reading material that could really move you.
Back then they only showed really straight looking white people going into the back country,
Some where I got the song written down called " On the cover of the MEC " about some enthusiastic outdoor types who are recreating like crazy but they can't get their picture on the cover of the MEC which is how you knew you had arrived back in the dayLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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11-29-2019, 07:10 PM #15
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11-29-2019, 08:10 PM #16Registered User
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11-29-2019, 08:46 PM #17
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11-30-2019, 01:20 AM #18
I've called it, and heard it called mec (mech) as long as I've known about mec. Since about '83 or so. Having said that, I'm not very hip. Man.
“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
www.mymountaincoop.ca
This is OUR mountain - come join us!
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11-30-2019, 02:40 AM #19
I love the parking spot next to the front door signed (for Electric/Hybrid or low emissions vehicles). There is NEVER a car parked there.
Virtue signalling at its finest.
And shopping bags, even if your hands are full, it is raining outside, and you spent $500, no bag for you.
Not even a paper bag.
More awesome virtue signalling.
Fuckers.
The logo move was a stupid move. They are now the KFC of outdoor stuff. Kinda a race to the bottom as far as branding is concerned.
MEC is meaningless. It lacks any identity and means whatever you want.OH, MY GAWD! ―John Hillerman Big Billie Eilish fan.
But that's a quibble to what PG posted (at first, anyway, I haven't read his latest book) ―jono
we are not arguing about ski boots or fashionable clothing or spageheti O's which mean nothing in the grand scheme ― XXX-er
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11-30-2019, 02:44 AM #20
""When you think about backcountry tents or snowshoes, we are in a very strong position. I worry that [we are] trying to compete in other categories such as jean jackets and running shoes," he said."
Yup. Try and find a real hiking boot there.
Pffft.
It's still a great place to shop.
They should have a $25 membership fee like Costco, give members real perks, make COOP mean something more that just being a number, and get rid of FASHION and focus on awesome.
And bikes. Frig.
They aren't a bike store and it detracts from the core focus.
"Union organizers stand outside the Victoria MEC store. (Alex Charron)"
Does MEC need a union? Are they that bad a place to work???OH, MY GAWD! ―John Hillerman Big Billie Eilish fan.
But that's a quibble to what PG posted (at first, anyway, I haven't read his latest book) ―jono
we are not arguing about ski boots or fashionable clothing or spageheti O's which mean nothing in the grand scheme ― XXX-er
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11-30-2019, 12:40 PM #21Registered User
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probably the heyday of Mech was back-in-the-day when they were in that big yellow building on maybe 6th/Cambie in Vangroovy, there was the Taiga store right across the street with their free parking lot inbetween and that was probably also the heyday for Taiga
Yeah not too sure about them doing biking, but its probably the cheapest place to buy Shimano SPD's
they brought back the Radpants a 20yr old design
Unions are/were big in B.C. for a lot of years, anybody who works at a Mech level job in Vancover can barely afford rent,Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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11-30-2019, 01:11 PM #22
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11-30-2019, 01:39 PM #23Registered User
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yeah that ^^ came up fairly recently but I can't say I ever noticed, probably because I have always self-identifyed as a white kid from Burnaby having grown up in that formerly white Vangroovy suburb now over run with my people
I think the reason MEC changed to the mountain-free logo is to be more inclusive
you know of people who don't identify with mountains ?Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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11-30-2019, 01:54 PM #24
I used to love the catalog. If I was ever in vangroovy I'd make sure I spent some time in the store. It was so easy to blow my bank account in that place. Although for down and goretex I'd go across the street to Taiga. I was in the Victoria and kelowna stores recently, there is nothing special about them. There was a time when it was the Mecca for outdoor gear in BC but no longer even though it's Mec.ca
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11-30-2019, 02:14 PM #25Registered User
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Yeah I used to call it Mecca
I would always make the shopping list & schedule 2 or 3 hrs in the Broadway store to stock up on shit, the north Van store is not bad, there is also a store at the surrey/langley border which is rather lackluster so that makes for 3 stores in the GVRD so I gotta wonder if the smaller stores pay ?
I had friends who would describe anywhere in Vancover by its relationship to the MEC store
instead of having to go to a store I just make the 50$ minimum for free shipping with stuff I might not need and take it all back every year or 2Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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