MEC Lost its way.

[Bern]

Mountain Equipment Coop has lost its way, its turned into another big box retailer. I went to buy a waterproof preferably breathable cycling jacket. They used to carry 3 versions under the MEC brand at different price points. They now carry one at $200 for a nylon shell. If you commute by bike you know how filthy these get and it's not worth a spending a fortune on them. The store now carries 10K mountain bikes and conventional downhill ski gear you can buy anywhere. It also carries all manner of commuting bikes the equivalent you can buy at Canadian tire, what part of this works with mountain? It's not surprising they are losing money hand over fist.

[Joe Backyard]

Walked into the Sheppard Ave store when it opened some 3 yrs ago and gave it at most 5 yrs before it goes dark. My guess may turn out to be too conservative.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mec-11m-outdoor-gear-mountain-equipment-co-op-1.5375846

[Jeffc]

Expensive stuff that rarely goes on sale. Haven’t bought anything there in years

[Fore Warned]

Ya, they had a niche position in providing both top level, esoteric goods and high end entry level products in specialty outdoor activities.

They kind of drifted away from that and introduced new lines of mediocre products in other more mainstream outdoor activities, putting themselves in competition with others, who either specialised in high end products in those sports e.g. bikes and skis and apparel, or those who provided shlock for the masses, e.g. Canadian Tire.

The cache has been lost. No longer a boutique sporting goods place, it's like a Walmart for sporting stuff you might need every couple of years or so.

[Big Shooter]

it's the Sporting Life because they didn't want to expand like that

...in fairness, it you want 'variety' you go on-line

I do like MEC - lots of candy

[jefflin]

I work in the middle of where they move from King to Queen street and other than the nice newness of the building they are in I can't understand why they made such a move. The store is not that much bigger, the products are the same and the services are the same. Is it because there is more foot traffic along Queen? It use to be if I were to get a particular product, such as bike parts, camping stuff, climbing gear I would go to MEC. MEC would have there own brand on stuff that would be cheaper in price. Yet now all the retailers seem to carry what I need at much more competitive price points, even compared to there MEC branded products. Last year I was shopping for a winter jacket. The choice of selection was non-existent and what jackets they did have I felt was price way out of my budget. I actually ended up going to Sporting Life because they had an end of the year sale, and I wouldn't quite call Sporting Life cheap at all. Its sad that it has come to this.

[4underthru9]

I work in the middle of where they move from King to Queen street and other than the nice newness of the building they are in I can't understand why they made such a move.

I believe that move was a direct result of the clusterf**k that the infamous King Street speed up the the street cars plan, which blocked lanes and drastically reduced regular traffic.
I know it really affected the business of the Detox Cosmetic store nearby and caused them to move away.
But we got to think positive; the time those street cars take to do their cross town run has been reduced by exactly 3 minutes and 24 seconds.

[IrishGuy1979]

Wrong .... they announced they were selling and moving from King St to Queen St back in July 2015.

2 years before the King Street Pilot was approved.

Detox moved because a condo is being built there.

[Bellyhungry]

I like their private-branded luggage for long-haul travel.

Not sure if that's still the case, but they were like poor men's Patagonia.

[Ignatius Reilly]

Wrong .... they announced they were selling and moving from King St to Queen St back in July 2015.

2 years before the King Street Pilot was approved.

Detox moved because a condo is being built there.

"fake news"?

Anyway, I was surprised to see them move from King St., but I guess someone made them an offer they could not refuse.

The new building is a bit of an eyesore for Queen W. Despite the urban hipster vibe that seems to run the business, and despite the architects working with the city to comply with Queen W.'s Heritage Conservation District Plan they managed to make a rather drab big box store that reminds me of my local LCBO. What happened to the timbers at the entrance that gave an appearance of woodsiness and "green"?

Would have much preferred something truly modern or even faux-heritage to extend the Queen St. feel - although I guess that ship sailed a couple of decades ago with the arrival of The Gap and the other chains.

Sad to see something that I've counted on for so long making so many turns away from why I joined. In some ways they've done astonishingly well - growing to 19(?) stores is pretty successful. Having said that, I was on their site yesterday looking for a new lightweight 2-man tent - but they've got a lot more competition now than they used to have. Still have outstanding service and warranty, which is why I continue to look there.

[mcgsxr]

Been a member since 1995 when I first bought a serious backpack there. Used it on a trip to Taiwan, and then on to Thailand, India and England. Still have it, and its a great piece.

Have spent some $ there since, especially on bicycle parts and fleece garments.

Still a good store here in Burlington. Happy to still visit on occasion.

[Fredk]

...

Sad to see something that I've counted on for so long making so many turns away from why I joined. In some ways they've done astonishingly well - growing to 19(?) stores is pretty successful. Having said that, I was on their site yesterday looking for a new lightweight 2-man tent - but they've got a lot more competition now than they used to have. Still have outstanding service and warranty, which is why I continue to look there.

I joined way back in the lat '70s when they had two stores: Vancouver, Calgary. My first purchase was a very good pair of hiking boots. At that time, you could not find this stuff elsewhere.

I've gotten a lot of value from them over the years. I could always rely on MEC to deliver on what the product promised and they often had products you could not find elsewhere, or were a lot more expensive elsewhere.

The last thing I got there was a very good backpack for my daughter when she spent two months in South East Asia. It was what I expected from a MEC product.

These days I don't do much back woods camping any more, so I don't shop there much.

A lot of other companies have encroached on their niche over the years. I hope they can sort things out.

[Ignatius Reilly]

I joined way back in the lat '70s when they had two stores: Vancouver, Calgary. My first purchase was a very good pair of hiking boots. At that time, you could not find this stuff elsewhere.

I've gotten a lot of value from them over the years. I could always rely on MEC to deliver on what the product promised and they often had products you could not find elsewhere, or were a lot more expensive elsewhere.

The last thing I got there was a very good backpack for my daughter when she spent two months in South East Asia. It was what I expected from a MEC product.

These days I don't do much back woods camping any more, so I don't shop there much.

A lot of other companies have encroached on their niche over the years. I hope they can sort things out.

We must be the same age-ish.

I joined in 1977 and bought my first internal frame backpack (Lowe Kinnickinnic) at the Calgary store (a house with a bunch of boxes of gear in a couple of rooms) to go travel in Europe.

Bought lots of other things over the years, but have noticed that their sense of style seemed to be going off - mustard yellow pants?

In ultralight 2 man tents, I noticed they now have one for $1850. Yikes!!! Who is buying that??? On the bright side, it's actually very very light... but a friend was steering me towards something from an Aliexpress vendor in China that's 1088g and about $100.

[Fredk]

We must be the same age-ish.

...

Too old to count the years?

[Big Shooter]

fwiw, I set foot for the 1st time & joined 3 weeks ago -- in the Burlington location -- and I don't live anywhere close to there!

I was really impressed by the service & selection -- though, lots of other stores carry similar items

....and I've been back since, so who knows?