REI Reviews

This is the flagship REI store and it's the best one in the state. It's huge! They have a really big selection of items in all their departments: clothes, shoes, backpacks, outdoor gear, bikes, everything. They also even have a cool outdoor area with a small dirt trail where you can test out their mountain bikes. Free 1 hour parking is available in their garage, no validation required.

Difficult to get to and parking garage has small parking stalls. I was driving very small and i had difficulty parking.

Nice facility. Almost everything you would want in terms Outdoor stuff.

Monstrous REI with all the wonderful things you expect, just more of it. Interesting displays like the converted microbus. New products. Big clearance area. Every department imaginable. Classes, helpful staff and great free/cheap parking depending on how long you are there

Oh yeah, I almost forgot but there's a kids playground area, too!

Excellent, knowledgeable service for women's hiking boots

It's the best outdoor/sporting store out there. Very helpful and friendly staff! A shout out to Alexa and Paul who helped me choose my bike and it's accessories! You guys are the best!

Don't really shop at the store often, I mainly use it to pick up online orders that I have delivered here. Good service to get packages delivered securely. Keep an eye out for events, sales and email coupon offers. Some good deals could be found through them. Staff here are helpful and make the store an inviting place.

REI Seattle is AWESOME. It's more like a theme park than an outdoor equipment store with an actual US National Parks Ranger desk right in the store!!! There's also an outdoor Mountain Biking trail for testing out mountain bikes. This is just over the top awesome!!!

fantastic outdoor store, has pretty much everything you might want.

I'm primarily a shopper of the bike department, and have unfortunately had negative experiences more often than not. The salespeople are often not very knowledgeable, and while the mechanics usually know a lot - they generally refuse to help you without making you cough up the $$. Tighten a bolt? $5. Use their wrench? No dice. I've developed knee issues due to their poor fittings, and have gotten intense judgement when I need to return items. It hasn't always been this way, but I don't feel welcome here.

I love REI and go there whenever I can. Their sales are fabulous, but you have to contend with crowds. Even with the crowds, the line to check out usually moves quickly since they have all registers open. The staff is always cheerful, and are especially helpful in helping you buy the product that is right for you. This location is the best by far, but it is also the biggest, so perhaps I am biased.

The Mecca of everything outdoors. This place has its own bike and hiking trails, a creek and waterfall, a fifty-foot climbing wall, and pretty much everything you could ever need to adventure outside. A fitting crown jewel for a quintessentially Pacific Northwest store.

Flagship store so what's not to like. Overall I'm very happy but every once in a while you get a sales associate who knows less than they think they do. Kid friendly, lots of great FREE courses for members and a selection as good as any site you can find online.

The workers at curbside pickup and inside the store were very friendly! The social distancing markers were easy to follow as well.

Stuff isn't the friendliest, but over all I do like the place, ended up getting a few items.

What a fantastic store.
The staff were very well informed and took their time with me helping try on different styles of clothes or brands.
During one trip I mentioned what I was looking for in a jacket, and they knew they were out of stock. but, they still have me the full treatment on what to expect for the jacket and let me try things that would be close to what I wanted. Even though they knew I wasn't going to be buying anything from them.

A lot of options and helpful people. Especially Wendy, she is the best! #Wendy

I met Amanda, a PT employee of REI on a camping trip in GNP. I had a brand new backpack from REI. I was never properly fitted for it. She stopped and helped my adjust it properly. It was very ill fitting before. She helped make my trip a success. She went over and beyond her job dutied. Thank you very good.

I've only been to Seattle a handful of times but I always feel a need to visit this REI. Maybe it's the fact that this is the flagship store that makes me want to go back but darn it, I just like this place. The store is huge. The parking is relatively easy. The experience is also unique. The decor, the "running waterfall", and the rock climbing wall all come together to make it feel like the "great outdoors". Bu most importantly, they've got a huge selection and carry items my local REI does not. Get ready to burn some cash here!

Any store that has its own mountain bike trail is going to be good. Tack on the REI spirit to every inch of this warehouse size building and you have a very cool place. Just wish prices were a little lower, but you get quality or your money back.

Best REI store I've ever been to... very friendly helpful staff and endless high quality products to shop and choose from. Highly recommended when visiting Seattle!!

Expect to spend more than nothing. This isn't the store for "just browsing" because there's something for everyone and you might believe yourself to be an exception, but you'll be drawn in, I too. No one can withstand the powers of REI

Omg biggest and most well stocked rei ever. Visits linger than and hour must pay for parking.

I love this store! Upscale outdoor gear store with EVERYTHING and even some good classes I've taken. Also, they have a climbing wall!

Slowest service I have ever had while trying on hiking boots. Pretty embarrassing customer service for their "flagship".

Terrible experience. Uninformed pushy sales kid did not at all listen to my request or needs. Better to just go online than to put up with this experience in the store.

horrendous curbside service. I don't even want to waste my time going into details.

Look elsewhere if you need gear fast.

I ve been a member over 30 years. Great place for all your outdoor gear. The staff is amazingly knowledgeable and willing to share. Highly recommended.

This great outdoor mega store has a great selection of hiking and outdoor gears. It is situated in a park setting with bike trail and rock climing wall.

Mary in the shoe/hiking boots section was a game changer. I had lost all hope after 90 minutes of trying to decide on shoes that were either too ugly or too tight or too expensive. (I m an 11wide and a lot of women s boots don t have a wide option) I hugged the lady when she found the perfect shoe for me. All of the staff were super friendly and not overbearing which was nice. I wouldn t mind going back to hang out with these people worry a trip regardless of whether you need anything or not.

great and unique facility, knowledgeable sales personnel, great educational programs

Been to many REI, this one I did not like, the layout was strange, I expected to have more selection since this is the main REI store, but it just seemed to have more open floor space with about the same amount of items as smaller stores.

Exorbitantly expensive. Even the sales prices were extremely high. The interior of the store was worth seeing, but I wouldn't purchase the equipment from here.

Just stopped by the shop to return a helmet that didnt fit. The customer service rep was extremely rude! She tried to make me feel bad for returning an unused helmet that didnt fit "saying that they can't resell the helmet after being sold" and that "next time to purchase a helmet in shop instead of online". I would never tell a customer how they should shop. Remember the old adage - The customer is always right! Their selection is terrible for snowboarding equipment. Go to EVO Seattle for better equipment and service!!

This place is huge. needed camping supplies and got everything here. They have everything

Very helpful staff, and they have everything you could ever want for hiking and camping! Return policy is amazing too, I have no complaints about REI!

I think my experience here today has been one of the most offensive experiences I've ever had in any store ever in my life. One of the biggest problems I had here was how almost the entire staff treated me as if I didn't belong in their store but instead in the dumpster out back. I am currently homeless but just because a person who likely had a life very similar to anybody else inside REI today has recently lost their place to live doesn't mean they have lost their job, their sense of dignity or their pride as a human being. I was in the store for around an hour, possibly an hour and a half, and in that time I was asked if "I needed any help" or "What was it exactly that I was looking for?" approximately 15-20 times, some of which were literally less than 2 minutes between each other. Also, I got the full "What could you possibly afford here?" treatment consisting of at least 5-7 employees in uniform that were always near me in the store no matter what section I was in... (By near I mean around 15-20 feet.) Lastly, I wasn't sure if I should of called the police or not because I had a woman who was STARING at me, with no attempt to even mask what she was doing, the entire time I was there while averaging about a 10 foot or less distance from me. If all of this wasn't enough to make me feel extremely unwelcome at the last moment (after I had asked a manager if the stalker was staff) an employee insisted he take my $30 knife and $10 sharpening tool and hold it at the register until I was ready to pay. I already have PTSD and the staff here has literally triggered a minor episode for me to deal with now. This was the last thing I wanted, needed, or expected when I walked into REI today.

REI the The perfect toystore for the outdoor lovers out there. Unlike most stores, the staff are particularly knowledgeable about the products and the activities they are used for. Get a membership. It will pay for itself!

Probably the coolest REI store I've been to. Large selection with a nifty, creative, presentation.

It s an amazing store with a rock wall and a outdoor biking path. It s a cool store!

Top notch clean, vast and filled with great knowledgeable staff.

Pretty awesome store with everything you want and don t want to wait for ordering. The bike area etc is huge with lots of collection. Pretty good play area that our kids liked. Parking area is ample but paid after 1 hour of weekdays and 3 hours for weekends.

Great selection and helpful and knowledgeable staff.

Always great to visit the REI store. Great products assortments and helpful staff.

Large store, a huge selection of sports and tourist equipment, clothes and footwear for outdoor activities. In order for buyers to evaluate the goods prior to purchase, special tracks have been made for testing footwear on various coverings and terrain, and near the building special tracks for testing bicycles.

I have been a fan for decades. The best, most knowledgeable service, and high quality products. This flagship store is the best of all this.

This continues to pop up as an ad on my cell phone and is REALLY starting to make me HATE this place that I've NEVER BEEN.

The best REI in the country - but shouldn't it be, given that it's the flagship?

Huge selection, lots of demo equipment, friendly and attentive staff, generous return policy, great co-op benefits, rental gear, classes, and a big testing course for bikes and shoes!

Check out this REI, even if you don't think you need anything.

Awesome outdoors adventure store for those with the resources (that's dollars to spend) on space age polymer garmets with names that sound like Japanese gaming characters Vandetteine, Solanz, GoreTex, K-Pop / BTS (wait, that's the Korean boy band sensation... you get the idea).

Most staff very helpful, only a couple could have done better.

The biggest and best REI around!!! If you want it, they have it.

This REI store is so cool! They set the bar for outdoor equipment. I realized as I walked in that everything I was wearing I purchased at REI. They also have great deals. It's hard to restrain oneself from spending all their money there.

Center of the world for an outdoor junkie, free 1 hour parking (which I exceed every time) I often ride my bike to the store and just walk around see what is the next thing to go on the wish list!

This place is so cool and so big. I wish everything want so damn expensive but that's REI for you. Well worth checking out though.

I really love REI, I do. As a matter of fact, I try to visit this store every time I drive down to Seattle. The 3-story flagship store is filled with amazing selections of outdoor gear and possibly almost everything an adventurer would ever want to own.

The reason for this one-star review is for an unfortunately unpleasant experience from this past weekend. I like to stop by the Pinnacle Climbing wall when I visit - It's a 65 ft high pinnacle with challenging routes. When you get to the top, you are rewarded to the beautiful landscape of downtown Seattle.

I stopped by on Saturday around 4:25. At the counter, there was a "We will be back in 15 minutes!" sign. I noticed a sign up sheet for drop in climbing left on the desk and registered myself for the 5PM time-slot.

Walked around the store and browsed a little while waiting for my allotted drop-in climbing time, then returned around 4:50. Still no sight of any employee at the desk. I stood around the desk awaiting as I imagine that I had to take time to pay, set up. I wanted to make use of my session and get as many climbs in as possible.

As I was waiting, I was greeted by two staff members at REI. They apologized for the wait then explained that the Pinnacle section of the store is run by another group of employees so they couldn't help me with the payment and belay. They noticed that I was visibly upset and tried let the management team know. I didn't get their names but I really appreciate their sincerity and attempt at helping. Their customer service was remarkable!

By 5:05PM, there was still no sign of staff members at the desk. Feeling disappointed and disheartened, I had no choice but to leave. This was my first stop to my Seattle trip, and definitely not the best start.

What a great first experience going to REI! Charlene in the shoe department was incredibly helpful and kind. Everyone was personable and friendly, even with their social distancing policies in place. Cannot wait to come back

Not organized will. No women's sizes above 16. Too many people, terrible shopping experience

Helpful staff, selection of Olukai flip flops not spectacular but found what I needed. Not enough cashiers, so long lines to check out

The REI Mothership. What else do you need. A must stop place when in Seattle.

This is the best REI of all the REIs. Seriously, it is super big and beautiful. The outside of the building is covered in plants. They have an espresso bar outside and a nice outdoor bike ramp to test the bikes. There is a used merch section in the basement (amazing!!) as well as the normal REI clothes, camping equipment, etc. You can pick up your interagency pass here and the people on staff in the maps section give great advice about trails. There is also a row of cute shops across the street, so it's very convenient for running errands.

A good place to locate things you need for the outdoors. In general they have most everything you need. They lost that "climbing shop" feel, long ago, being a huge chain of stores. I do shop there and recommend them. Recently I was asked by REI for product feedback. I would love to give it, although I won't because of the huge overreaching legal agreement. They should change that in my opinion. Cut and paste of a bit of the agreement as they partner with Bazaarvoice: ____ Accordingly, you hereby grant Bazaarvoice, Bazaarvoice s clients and each of their sublicensees and affiliates a perpetual, unlimited, nonexclusive, fully sublicenseable, irrevocable, worldwide right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. You further grant Bazaarvoice, Bazaarvoice s clients and each of their and sublicensees and affiliates the right to use the name and likeness that you submit in connection with such content.... So get your equipment as needed and forget the feedback, although they do need it. There is a big disconnect in their feedback loop if you do purchase product that fail and a limited 1 year return policy. ....So if your aluminimum trekking poles have a fatigue-failure in the middle section, they will never effectively be able to communicate that with the OEM.

REI has quality employees. Friendly and always willing to help.

Very aesthetically appealing. It's a nice place to shop or browse for outdoor gear and merchandise. Much of the Cascade/South Lake Union neighborhood has been redeveloped, but you'll find a stark contrast if you approach the REI building from the south via Stewart or Howell St. Though not particularly egregious, I felt a bit uncomfortable walking through those blocks at night. I imagine those blocks will transform over the next several years.

Great store with very friendly staff. They are also knowledgeable and go out of their way to help.

Doesn't stock the most basic sporting equipment, such as soccer, baseball, or football.

This store is one of the nicest REI stores I've been at. Enormous selection of items from apparel to biking, hiking, water sports gear and so much more. Very clean store and very well laid out.

Every time i come into REI downtown Seattle I have a great experience. Every associate is very knowledgeable and helpful. They help me pick the product that is right for me. I would recommend this store to anyone wanting to get new gear for a great deal.

Very cool place to visit and shop. I especially liked the mountain bike and hiking trails around the store.

Went to return sandles I bought on line. I recieved help getting a replacement. Was able to use an electric wheel chair and was given good directions in the store. They're keeping all safe and clean.

Attractive and interesting lay out. Mountain bike test track and huge climbing wall on premises.. Amazing selection of multisport clothing and supplies. National park rangers are available to answer questions.

REI does a really good job dealing with the covid-19 stuff.

Huge REI that has everything that you can imagine. Clearance is up on the top floor.

They have a good range of products across most categories, but they are insanely expensive.