I&#x27;ve been a member since last year. But I grew up in the Northwest, and shopped there many times with my family in the 80s and 90s (they had a membership, of course).<p>More recently, I&#x27;ve used my girlfriend-now-wife&#x27;s membership, and only signed up for my own last year. I saw no urgency or reason to get my own, and I have never heard of voting on anything at REI, from my own membership or from my family&#x27;s.<p>It&#x27;s odd how pushy they are about employees selling memberships (I had a friend who worked there for a few years), when they clearly &#x27;cost&#x27; the co-op more than they bring in over the long run.