AI6YR BenI'm going to go out on a limb and say white colored hiking boots are probably a bad idea. #hiking
Hmm, not white... "Safari/Birch" 🤔
Depends on how far into "dingy white" it already is, otherwise, it will get dingy white very quickly.
I suppose they might be "hiking lifestyle" shoes, it's at REI, *implying* you are into hiking but not designed for use on the trail. Much like SUVs and Jeeps have become a "lifestyle brand" even if they'll never go on a 4x4 trail, too.
W6KME
Climate Jenny 2.1
Semitones@ClimateJenny @W6KME @ai6yr it's still the best place near me to try hiking boots before you buy them, although you can buy plenty of lifestyle shit there too.
That's what us staff called it when I worked there. Lifestyle shit.
@semitones @ClimateJenny @W6KME Yes, have done that (trying hiking boots on). They aren't what they were before, but at least they still carry a lot of the stuff. That said, the LAST two times I have been in there (helping my son find better fitting boots, and looking for a specific pair of boots myself), I ended up helping some hapless other customers who had no idea on what they were looking for and who the shoe salesperson had ZERO clue how to help them. i.e. "how will these working backpacking" and answer was along the lines of "I don't know, but a lot of people buy those"
@ai6yr @ClimateJenny @W6KME Not sure when they changed, but when I was working there, they were already
* giving staff 39.5 hours every week, so they didn't have to pay benefits
* understaffing us on busy days so everyone got stressed out
* over-incentivizing membership sales and racking up the average checkout total
By the time I left, the only people still there were either desperate for a job, brand new and knowing nothing about the outdoors, or working minimum hours for the discounts.
* giving staff 39.5 hours every week, so they didn't have to pay benefits
* understaffing us on busy days so everyone got stressed out
* over-incentivizing membership sales and racking up the average checkout total
By the time I left, the only people still there were either desperate for a job, brand new and knowing nothing about the outdoors, or working minimum hours for the discounts.
Nazo@semitones @ai6yr @ClimateJenny @W6KME This seems to be the generic playbook for anything retail. Another weird thing many come up with that I don't quite understand exactly why it's legal is to create special job titles and then anyone given those titles can be made to work 60 hours a week without benefits and without being paid significantly more. At least my last job was doing something funky like that (but I never 100% understood exactly what crap they were pulling.)
Really they were always finding some stupid loopholes. Like we'd have certain minimum requirements for breaks, but those requirements didn't specify when. So often I'd get my last 15 only five minutes before it was time for me to leave. 100% legal.
Capitalism truly is reaching its final stage here...
@nazokiyoubinbou @semitones @ClimateJenny @W6KME "salaried" and "manager" are definitely traps to keep from paying overtime.
@nazokiyoubinbou @ai6yr @ClimateJenny @W6KME huh I didn't realize that was widespread outside of my industry (camp counselor)
@semitones @nazokiyoubinbou @ClimateJenny @W6KME Ah yes, we'll promote you to manager and give you a 50 cent raise, therefore, you will have to work unlimited unpaid overtime!
Sara@semitones @ai6yr @ClimateJenny @W6KME I think their union has asked us to boycott them
I've got quite a bit of store credit there right now and I'm of two minds about exchanging it for products under the circumstances
Kelsey Jordahl@semitones @ClimateJenny @W6KME @ai6yr now that our local mountaineering store has closed, REI has gone from the corporate store to be avoided to the only place to get hiking stuff locally.
It's a similar story arc to Barnes & Noble, which went from local bookstore killer to the only local bookstore that's left most places.