Avenue Clothing Company Review

Their staff expertise levels zigzag a bit; one mechanic (since left) did a "not-so-good" job on my bicycle, but another mechanic later on did a super good job.

Mack in footwear was very friendly, courteous, and professional. Mike W not so much. :(

Awesome help on knowledge of bikes and great advice on what I need as well as the customers service was very friendly.

Lots of parking. Stop by and check out all the great adventure gear.

Great selection of high quality outdoor equipment and clothing.

Attempted to exchange a tent that was damaged before I'd even used it. While they did ultimately complete the exchange, it wasn't before they'd implied I was lying or shouldn't have been bothered by the damage. But when you've spent $500 on a brand new backpacking tent, you expect it to be in new condition at first use. I like MEC but I'll be avoiding this location from now on.

The service was excellent in every way, Tim is knowledgeable about everything bikes in a complete and organic way that is beyond intuitive. Both Tim and his young helper followed through on every detail of a repair beyond quitting time and did so cheerfully. Their knowledge and calibre of service made the visit helpful and effective. Huge thanks are owed.

Amazing store with great customer service and products! Pricy, but you're buying quality.

Great customer service, Scotty in the bike repair shop!

Awesome Store for Outdoor Gear no matter what City your in. This is the Bigger of the two in Edmonton and has a Nice Easy Layout and a Good Feel about it. Staff were Friendly and Helpful. There is a Starbucks beside it, so for Me Win Win.

Very knowledgeable staff and excellent service. A large selection of quality products.

Went there for multiple items and had excellent customer service from Arun. He went above and beyond to make sure we were satisfied. Thanks Arun!!!

Very good climbing selection. Probably could get a few more climbing shoe options for women.

MEC is amazing. Very commendable that their return policy is "based on satisfaction, not a time-frame". The store has a clean layout, helpful staff, and great stock. Definitely my go-to for outdoor gear from now on.

Super Clean and Organized. Have lots of stock with all different types of equipment from all different sports and activities. Recommend!

I love MEC, love the outdoors, but am not a fan of some of the staff here. For example, a friend of mine, new to backcountry camping, was told NOT to buy bear spray for a backcountry trip in Jasper. What if something happened on her trip? Would MEC be liable?

Disclaimer: I continue to shop at MEC for things I need, but do not trust the sales staff after several instances. I would like to hear the sales staff is getting better training/ education on bear safety!

Whatever you think of quality camping and hiking gears, you will find in one place. Perfect, helpful and professional staff.

Good range of stuff. Helpful staff. What more do you need?

Great selection and helpful staff. This is definitely one of my favorite shops!

Great selection and helpful staff! Also, just a cool place to walk around... They have so much stuff!

Excellent service. Plenty of employees, so you're only a few steps away from help.

My favorite store in Edmonton. I love to hike, cycle and ski and this is the place to go. New store looks great.

I love this store. Just a shame everything is so damn expensive.

They have a new selection of mountain bikes now. Looking forward of buying one next year. Nice and friendly staff

Went shopping in November for cross country skis. The fellow who helped me was very knowledgeable and took the time to help me find my ideal set of skis. I had such a great time using the skis over the winter season and I am wishing there was still snow on the ground!

A number of unique products and they are built to last!

Is it MEC policy for every employee to act like your (the customer) an inconvenience or to act like they are better than the customers? I visited the Edmonton MEC last week looking to upgrade a lot my equipment. While their looking at bags, skis and climbing shoes I was consistently ignored. I was only offered help, begrudgingly, from an employee helping another employee shop for their own shoes.
I felt like asking for sizes was asking too much from the staff. I ended up getting a full new set of Alpine touring equipment from Out of Bounds on Calgary trail which I highly recommend over MEC, got my climbing shoes from Track n Trail on Whyte ave, which I recommend over MEC now, and will continue to look to any other store than MEC for the rest of my equipment.

To complete the entire terrible experience at MEC, a month ago I had rented ski boots for tech bindings so I could go on an AT trip near Jasper. Long story short-ish I had my skiing buddy pick up my boots as he lives near MEC and they gave us the wrong size. two sizes to small, stupid call on my part not to check before meeting everyone in jasper but MEC's mix up ruined my trip, and though I know ultimately I should have double checked, I didnt think renting boots was something that could go so terribly wrong. Not only that but when I returned to the store and asked for a partial refund for the days i couldn't ski because I couldn't wear the boots I was basically lectured from some employee and given barely anything back. Last week was MEC's second chance for me and I will do everything I can to get my gear at any other store than here.

My experience here was very poor, I thought that it was ridiculous that you had to pay for parking when you're a paying customer and giving them business. I was a purchasing a pocket knife and being a girl do not know much about knives and the gentleman working in the dept knew nothing either, any question I asked him he had no idea and couldn't even figure out how to open/close the knife.. Instead of directing me to someone who could maybe assist me he just advised me if I didn't like it I could return it.. When I decided on a knife the lady at the cash register, (Lori) was very rude and condescending. I've never been to MEC before so wasn't aware that you needed an acct to purchase anything. Instead of nicely informing me that I needed an acct she was rude and unhelpful and by the end of my time in the store I was left feeling very unwanted and like they just wanted to get me out of there as quick as possible without willing to help at all.

Been a member as long as I can remember. High quality at a high price. It's worth the money to get the proper gear.

Can't go wrong with the selection of gear that MEC has.

New place is shiny and bright. Lots of room and doesn't feel crowded. However, it does continue the trend where they seem to be catering more to the crowd looking for a messanger bag to take to the music festival and less to people looking to hike in the wilderness.

I've bought a lot of things from MEC over the years and have never been let down. I do read reviews online so that weeds out lesser quality items. Most recently, I lost a bolt from my pannier rack that was purchased elsewhere and they replaced it for me free of charge. I'm planning on purchasing a commuter bike here based on my overall positive experiences regarding customer service and price.

Awesome staff, and while a Mec store is generally a Mec store, it's laid out nicely. Great bike staff, super healpful and resourceful!

The employees here are usually pretty helpful, usually I just go in and get what I already know I want though.

I have shopped at this location multiple times in the last 6 months. On every single occasion, staff have been attentive, helpful, available and there are many of them around. They also appear to know what they are talking about. The stock is amazing. One of their neighbors in this Shopping Center is also doing recycling. It would be great to see this store do more in that regard. The stock has very little Packaging, which makes me very happy as a consumer. There is no bottled water in this store. They really walk the talk of using the water local to you. I really appreciated the in store water fountain. Way to be water protectors, MEC.

Nice big store with lots of selection. The employees are super helpful.

Excellent selection of outdoor gear. Progressive and ethical operation. This is a true coop operation. Staff are knowledgeable and proffessional. Most are hard core outdoor enthusiasts. From mountain climbing, skiing, biking and backpacking for casual outdoorsman to the most hard core mountain climber and cyclist.

Great location. Usually you can find free parking directly across the street for 30 minutes. No questions asked when returning something. Clearance items can be found often. Dislike how they've downsized the book section and carry way less. Overall great store, great prices.

Liked the new location. I love the stuff for kids its always such good quality.

My work bag comes from here. Really good quality stuff.

Lots of outdoor camping,skiing ,hiking and biking gear surrounded by a good variety of other stores.

No longer interested in dealing with this company since they've dropped Bushnell, Camp Chef, Camelbak and the rest of the vista outdoor group. Yes, I'm a firearms owner and enthusiast but I'm also an outdoors enthusiast and former Search and Rescue member. Its embarrassing to watch a company fold to pressure over peoples feelings and remove great product lines from the shelves because the parent company also manufacturers and distributes firearms to law abiding gun owners country wide. I want gear, not to be spoon fed and hand held with political agenda. If they cant leave it off the table to keep the brands I buy from them, I have no interest in doing business with them. Someone else will carry the brands and take my money. Lifetime membership card destroyed this morning.

If your into the outdoors you already know about mec. Best place to get outdoor equipment. Downtown branch seems to have better selection then Southside.

This store is really great. It has all the high-end equipment your everyday weekend warrior or you're all day super outdoorsman would need to survive in the wild. they even have awesome kids clothing outerwear shoes and equipment. I love bringing the kids here because they like looking through and picking out their favorite apparel. It makes camping all that much more fun.

Picked up new climbing gear here last weekend. They always have a great selection.

I was choosing a sweater for someone as an Xmas gift and I was having trouble deciding what size to buy. An employee was standing about 15-20 feet away from me leaning against the stair rail for about 10 minutes doing nothing while I was trying to figure it out on my own. I eventually approached the employee and asked for help, they answered my questions but they didn t seem really interested. I m not a really demanding dude at all.. but I worked in sports retail for 10 years and wasn t too impressed.

I tried making trivial conversation with the guy ringing up my order and he didn t seem like the happiest guy in the world either. Very clean store though and had tones of product which was good!

Bought a pack 2 years ago. One of my straps broke off, and upon planing our next trip, we decided to take it in (with our receipt) and see what they could do for us. The backpack was discontinued and they gave a full refund for me to purchase a new pack. Thanks, MEC!

More limited selection than I expected in the new, large building. The prices are really big too.

Great location, really helpful staff and a huge selection. I've certainly spent far more money here than I should have, but everything I've bought has exceeded my expectations, and gotten a lot of use. The few things I've purchased that didn't work out for me were easy to return, no questions asked. MEC and general and this location in particular are a huge part of my outdoor life, and I frequently recommend their brand, as well as the brands they sell.

They have the largest selection of outdoor gear of all of the outdoor suppliers in Edmonton. They stock seasonally, so you can't get winter clothing during the summer so if you're planning to visit Alaska during the summer, you're out of luck. The staff is helpful and the store layout makes sense. The pricing is better than anywhere else in Edmonton.

Staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. Amazing selection of items for pretty much any level of experience.

Mec is a get store for all out door activities. Prices range from inexpensive to high end. I find myself just going to look around more often than I would like to admit.

Great gear selection, but terrible customer service. Spent over 30 minutes in the store and not a single staff member approached me.

Stopped in for a travel purse - cheap, durable-looking and attractive (enough). My husband bought some winter biking gear as well. The staff all went out of their way to help, and the building is gorgeous. Not cheap but the quality is worth it.

Super disappointed in my experience at the downtown MEC store today, while looking at your products I realized I was being followed by your "undercover" staff. To confirm my suspicion, I spoke to a staff member in a vest, which confirmed the employee was employed by MEC. Seeking a better response I confronted the store manager, his response was less than desirable, explaining that being followed around a store is normal and that he himself doesn't mind. Something, I hardly believe, why would anyone enjoy being discriminated against solely on their appearance, clothing, age, etc..? I feel confident that because I am 35 and look younger than the little old lady, I was targeted based solely on the individuals personal opinion and not because I had made any verbal or physical actions that would lead someone to consider me a thief. Although I have purchased a lot of equipment at MEC over the years, I will do my homework in the future to support your competitors. Shame to see MEC going down so quick over the past few years.

Staff are always helpful, and the store is always well stocked and organized.

Went in to exchange a sleeping pad I had some issues with. The customer service was very understanding of my problem with it and exchanged it for a new one. MEC has great products in general and this location has exceptional service!

Staff were very helpful and knowledgeable. Great location.

I went in for help finding a rack and panniers for my bike, as well as some spare parts for my daughter's. They set me up with good value gear, with credible advice based on their own experience. The mounts on my bike were hidden, and they showed me how to set them up. They gave me the spare parts for free. I couldn't find the kids bike shorts, a woman came and emptied the rack to find me some the appropriate size. An excellent experience overall.

I went here specifically for a bike and walked away a very happy customer, despite it being a very busy Saturday. Great selection of everything you need for camping, traveling, and outdoor adventures!

Who wants to go to WEM crowded with people, for Atmosphere which doesn t have nearly as much stuff? I sure don t.

P.S. I also purchased my MSR multi fuel stove here for my 15 day Norway hiking trip. GAME CHANGER.
Worth.every.penny.

Very helpful staff when purchasing new bikes for my girls

Fantastic selection and helpful staff. When you buy an item here you can be certain it's of high quality.

It's challenging to feel comfortable walking through MEC. Elitist in most ways: attitude, gear & prices. Occasionally they will have what you need and you can make it through quickly and unscathed by irony. Largely inaccessible to anyone who is grounded with common sense.

Staff can't seem to answer practical questions about gear. I suspect most of them don't participate in the activities.

They have what you need to get outdoors and enjoy it!

At that time I had called so many places in edmonton. I had collected parts number from different sales and services staff. I had not found the part I was seeking. In fact , I didn't even know if any of these part numbers were correct. None of the representatives at other places sounded confident about the information that they had give me. Then, after a lot of frustration dealing with the lack of knowledgeable staff at other stores and being placed on hold till I hung up; i would call MEC bike shop. I am happy to say that Kristy or Christy or Christie actually used a computer while I was on the phone to find the part I was looking for. She told me that it could be ordered and delivered within a few days. I cannot say enough about her efforts. I will be recommending MEC and Kristy or Christy Or Christie to every bike enthusiast that should need parts or accessories for their mountain bike rebuilds. Thank you.

MEC is my jam. I used to work here and they were great to work with (especially considering other retail jobs!). I shop here every time I need gear for anything. The people here know what they're talking about because staff training is extensive, and they go out on field courses all the time with consistent opportunities to test gear and learn about activities they deal with at the store. I could probably rave about MEC forever. It's becoming more corporate over the last couple of years which is probably unfortunate, but I'm still comfortable in the store and with advice from people who work there.