REI Narrows 2025 Losses by $102 Million as Union Targets Anniversary Sale for National Boycott

May 4, 2026

REI reported a $102 million bottom-line improvement Monday in its 2025 results, but the recovery faces an immediate challenge: the REI Union has called for a national boycott of the retailer’s biggest sales event of the year. Plus, REI’s financials from 2019 to 2025.

REI narrowed its 2025 losses by about 102 million dollars compared with the year before, moving from a 156 million dollar net loss in 2024 to a 54.3 million dollar loss in 2025, thanks to healthier full‑price sales and tighter inventory control. The company’s 3‑year “Peak 28” profitability plan has helped halt the slide from its record 311 million dollar loss in 2023, even though it has only turned a profit in two of the past seven years (2019 and 2021). REI also reported 3.54 billion dollars in net sales in 2025, up slightly from 2024, along with increased gross profit and a 44 percent jump in employee incentives and profit‑sharing.

At the same time, REI’s cost‑cutting moves—such as shrinking its 40‑year‑old Adventures program, eliminating the REI Experiences travel division, and reducing employee benefits and starting wages for new hires—have intensified friction with its unionized workforce. The REI Union, now representing workers at 12 stores (including the largest location to date in San Diego), has failed to reach a contract agreement and accuses the retailer of bargaining in bad faith. In response, the union has called for a national boycott of REI’s key Anniversary Sale in May 2026, claiming that more than 70,000 co‑op members have pledged not to shop during the event unless the company offers a fair deal. SESO