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REI's online business reports $92 million in 2000 sales 

"We're seeing million dollar days which makes REI a top performer among all online retailers," said Matt Hyde, REI's vice president of online sales. "Our momentum continues into 2001 with January sales up nearly 70 percent over last year."

"We've been successful because we approached the Internet as part of a multi-channel strategy for serving our customers and built our online business on 62 years of retail experience, an established infrastructure and a strong brand," said Hyde.

The leading online merchant of outdoor gear and clothing, REI.com was among the top eRetailers for holiday site performance and fulfillment time, according to measurement firms. "While these accolades point to some of our accomplishments in technology and distribution, we've had a number of achievements in 2000. We began offering in-country order fulfillment for our REI.co.jp customers with a distribution center in Yokohama, Japan. We've added new functionality to REI-Outlet.com, the fastest growing of REI's three e-commerce sites in terms of sales. We've also added more content, increasing to 400 the number of online clinics, how-to information and other articles available on REI.com," said Hyde.

Keynote Systems' 2000 e-Shopping Holiday Report ranked REI.com among the best sites for performance and availability. The Holistix Performance Index placed REI.com in the top one percent of 300,000 sites tested for page download and server response time during November, one of the busiest months of the year for e-commerce sales. REI.com is also one of the fastest e-commerce sites in order delivery time, according to a holiday 2000 fulfillment report by Bizmetric, an Internet transaction tracking company. In addition, REI.com received a designation as one of the "50 Most Important Online Stores" from The Industry Standard GROK magazine, an eSilver award from Fast Company magazine for delivering "the outdoor spirit through well-integrated channels" and a five-star rating from Apple's iReview. Both Yahoo! Internet Life magazine and a leading consumer review magazine designated REI.com as the top sporting goods site in their online shopping guides. REI also received the eRetailNews Commerce Cubed Content Award in 2000.

"Moving into 2001, we will continue to enhance the customer experience so that it is even faster, easier and more convenient for customers to get the products and information they need," said Hyde.

REI.com has become the online destination for outdoor enthusiasts worldwide. The Internet's biggest outdoor store, REI.com offers more than 78,000 individual items; a comprehensive library of more than 45,000 pages of in-depth product information; expert gear advice and online clinics; an interactive community system and complete adventure travel service. REI also operates REI-Outlet.com and REI Japan.

REI was established in 1938 by a group of 23 Pacific Northwest mountaineers seeking climbing equipment. The group formed a consumer cooperative to ensure quality products for its members. Today, REI has grown into the USA's largest consumer cooperative with more than 1.8 million active members. REI operates 60 retail stores in 24 states and Japan, its three online stores and an adventure travel company, REI Adventures.

Source: REI 02/15/01

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