Outdoor recreation
Recreation engaged in out of doors
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January 2025 | Eric Artz announced his retirement, to be effective in March 2025. Mary Beth Laughton will succeed him as CEO. |
January 8 2025 | REI announced the closure of its 'Experiences' businesses, with CEO Eric Artz citing low customer engagement (40,000 customers in 2024, less than 0.4% of co-op customers) and unprofitability. |
2024 | Patagonia launches the 'Vote Her' campaign, partnering with the League of Conservation Voters to encourage voter participation and engagement on climate policy. |
May 2024 | Migration Madness Birdathon competition held throughout May, where participants aim to spot as many bird species as possible during the month-long festival celebrating bird migration. |
February 2024 | Peter Kaestner became the first birder to log over 10,000 bird species, with the achievement surrounded by controversy involving Jason Mann. |
November 2023 | Workers at eight REI retail stores accused the company of multiple federal labor law violations, including retaliation against pro-union workers and refusing to bargain in good faith. |
June 10 2023 | Follow the Money investigative platform published an article exposing poor working conditions in Patagonia's Sri Lankan factories, where workers earn less than half of a livable wage and work 14-hour shifts. |
May 2023 | Durham, North Carolina store workers voted 20-12 to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union after a four-day strike. |
April 2023 | Eugene, Oregon REI location filed a petition for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board. |
April 20 2023 |
Gowalla
Gowalla announced through their Discord server that they have paused active development of the app.
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March 2023 | REI workers in Orange, Ohio voted to unionize with a 27-12 vote. |
March 10 2023 |
Gowalla
Gowalla was officially relaunched, 11 years after its original shutdown.
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January 31 2023 | REI laid off 8 percent of its corporate staff, eliminating 167 positions due to economic challenges. |
September 2022 | Yvon Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia's voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and nonvoting stock to Holdfast Collective, with the goal of using profits to address climate change and protect land. |
March 2022 | SoHo workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), winning 88-14. |
March 2022 | Kathmandu Holdings was rebranded as KMD Brands. |
January 2022 | SoHo, Manhattan REI location filed the company's first-ever National Labor Relations Board petition to vote to become a union. |
2021 | Announced discontinuation of clothing production with added corporate logos to improve garment life-spans. |
December 2021 | European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed a criminal complaint against Patagonia, alleging benefit from forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang, China. |
April 5 2021 | Patagonia pledges $1 million to Black Voters Matter and the New Georgia Project to support voter registration efforts in Georgia. |
January 2021 |
Gowalla
Gowalla announced plans to relaunch the app in 2022.
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2020 | Kathmandu received $6.2 million in wage subsidies from the New Zealand government during the COVID-19 economic downturn, despite later posting a profit of NZ $31.5 million. |
2020 | Patagonia begins including 'Vote the Assholes Out' labels in clothing, targeting politicians who deny climate change. |
October 20 2020 |
Gowalla
Josh Williams announced plans to revive Gowalla with a new concept for Spring 2021.
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September 2020 | Rose Marcario stepped down as CEO of Patagonia, with Ryan Gellert succeeding her. |
August 2020 | REI announced the sale of its new headquarters campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, with corporate employees transitioning to remote work. |
July 2020 | Patagonia suspends advertising on Facebook and Instagram as part of the 'Stop Hate for Profit' campaign. |
2019 | Release of 'Birders', a short documentary film about birdwatching. |
2019 | Initiated ReCrafted program, creating clothing from fabric scraps of used Patagonia gear, with repair support events in the United States and Europe. |
2019 | Patagonia announced a strategic focus on distributing branded products to firms committed to environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives. |
October 2019 | Kathmandu announced the purchase of 100% of Australian surf brand Rip Curl for A$350 million. |
May 2019 | Eric Artz was named CEO and president of REI, succeeding Jerry Stritzke. |
February 2019 | Jerry Stritzke resigned as CEO of REI. |
February 2019 | Kathmandu launched the Eco Traveller series with National Geographic, focusing on eco-friendly travel and sustainable tourism, hosted by Nick Saxon. |
June 2018 | Patagonia announces donation of $10 million received from Trump's tax cuts to environmental groups focused on protecting air, land, water, and addressing climate crisis. |
March 2018 | Kathmandu announced the purchase of Oboz Footwear, an outdoor footwear brand based in Montana, U.S. known for sustainability and product innovation. |
2017 | Launched Worn Wear program, a trade-in and exchange initiative for merchandise in good condition, promoting clothing reuse and sustainability. |
December 6 2017 | Patagonia sues the United States Government and President Donald Trump over reductions in protected lands at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. |
February 2017 | Patagonia leads a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Utah to protest potential transfer of federal lands and oppose the state's stance on Bears Ears National Monument. |
2016 | REI announced plans for a new headquarters campus in the Spring District of Bellevue, Washington, initially planned to open in 2020. |
2016 | Workers started organizing petitions to address workplace concerns. |
2016 | Over 45 million Americans considered themselves birders, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
2016 | Arjan Dwarshuis became the world-record holder for most species seen in one year, logging 6,852 bird species across 40 countries. |
2016 | Patagonia pledges to contribute 100% of Black Friday sales to environmental organizations, ultimately raising $10 million. |
June 2016 | Patagonia released principles for ethical treatment of animals in wool garment manufacturing, focusing on land-use practices and sustainability. |
2015 | Noah Strycker recorded 6,042 bird species during the year, overtaking Davies and Miller's previous record. |
2015 |
Orienteering
Jukola relay set a record with the highest number of participating clubs, reaching 1,787 participants in this orienteering mass club race.
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2015 | Patagonia's sales grew to $750 million. |
November 2015 | REI introduced its #OptOutside campaign, closing all stores on Black Friday and giving employees a paid day off. |
October 2015 | REI launched a redesigned logo that included 'co-op' for the first time since 1983. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles REI, Gowalla, Birdwatching, KMD Brands, Orienteering & Patagonia, Inc., which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.