Imagine this: a person is standing in a sporting-goods store, unable to find a simple item—a sharp metal ice axe for climbing in the mountains. Hardly any were made in the United States, and the ones that were available were poor quality. This is how one of Seattle’s most remarkable stories began: the story of how an ordinary hiker accidentally came up with a new way to buy things, how that idea grew into a magical store-park, and how it eventually changed the way people share with one another around the world.
An Ice Axe from Austria
In 1938, an engineer named Lloyd Anderson lived in Seattle. He loved hiking in the mountains—and with two entire mountain ranges, the Cascades and the Olympics, located near the city, climbing was a favorite activity for many residents. But in those days, climbing equipment was expensive and hard to find. A good ice axe—a specialized tool used to grip ice and snow on steep slopes—had to be ordered all the way from Austria, across the ocean, at an exorbitant price.
Lloyd had had enough. Together with his wife, Mary, who also loved the mountains, he thought: what if, instead of buying equipment individually at inflated prices, they gathered a group of fellow climbers and placed a large order directly with manufacturers? Then the price for each person would be much lower.
So, in 1938, 23 friends contributed $2.50 each and created what they called “Recreational Equipment Inc.”—or REI for short. It was not just one person’s idea; it was the idea of a close-knit group.
The Store Where Customers Are the Owners
This is where things get really interesting. REI is not an ordinary store. It is a cooperative. The word may sound complicated, but the idea is simple: imagine that your class decided to buy a collection of board games for recess. Everyone contributed a little money, and now the games belong to everyone. If there is money left over at the end of the year, it is divided equally among everyone who contributed.
That is roughly how REI works. People do not simply shop there—they become “members” of the store for a small one-time fee. At the end of the year, if the store has earned more than it spent, each member receives part of the money back. This is called a dividend.
| Ordinary Store | REI Cooperative Store |
|---|---|
| The customer is simply a client | The customer is a co-owner |
| All profits go to the owners | Part of the profits is returned to customers |
| The boss makes the decisions | Members can vote on important decisions |
The idea proved so successful that REI now has millions of members across the United States—and it all began with 23 friends and one frustrating search for an ice axe.
The Store That Became a Park
Nearly 60 years passed, and in 1996 REI built a completely unusual flagship store in Seattle. The architects asked themselves: why should a store be just a store? Why not make it a place people could visit even if they did not plan to buy anything?
Inside, they built a real climbing tower nearly 65 feet high, where climbers could train. Nearby, they created a mountain-bike test trail right on the store grounds, along with a rain garden filled with real trees and moss, as if a piece of forest had been transported into the city. Families came here not to shop, but simply to walk around, climb the wall, and enjoy nature in the middle of the city.
It was so unusual that architects and urban planners across the country began to take notice: what if stores, libraries, and even bus stops were designed to become meeting places for neighbors rather than merely buildings? This gave rise to an idea now known as “public space within business”—when a privately owned building functions almost like a small park for the entire neighborhood.
From Ice Axes to Tool Libraries
And now for the most surprising part: the very idea from 1938, when friends pooled their money to buy equipment more cheaply, is still alive today—just in new forms.
In cities around the world, “tool libraries” are appearing: places where neighbors collectively own drills, lawn mowers, tents, and other equipment, borrowing them for free or almost free instead of every family buying its own. Online “freecycle” groups have also emerged, where people share items they no longer need. These all follow the same principles Lloyd and Mary Anderson came up with nearly a century ago: why should everyone buy their own when people can join together and benefit collectively?
One of REI’s founders once told his friends something simple: by joining together, people can obtain things that no individual could afford alone. The idea proved so powerful that it outlived Lloyd himself, the first ice axe, and even the small old store where it all began.
A Small Idea, Big Mountains
The story of REI teaches us something remarkable: sometimes the biggest changes in a city do not begin with a plan from city hall or an architect, but with an ordinary person who simply needs equipment for a hike. Lloyd Anderson did not set out to change the world—he just wanted to climb a mountain with a good ice axe. But the idea of joining together and sharing proved so powerful that it grew into a store-park, and later into a worldwide movement of tool libraries and friendly exchanges.
So the next time you borrow a bicycle from a neighbor or exchange books with a friend, remember: somewhere back in 1938, it all began with one frustrating trip to the mountains—and the desire to make good things available to everyone together, rather than only to those who could afford to buy them alone.
