REI

Reviews

• LL

  Lukas

  Aug 18, 2026
  5.0
  Camping can be scary. Knowing you’re about to go into the wilderness and rely on your gear to help you handle it can be daunting. The staff here made it feel possible. Spent hours trying on different boots till I found the right one (unfortunately that specific pair had a defect in the heel, so I couldn’t get it). Yvonne, I believe was her name, was like the wise oracle of shoes, making sure I knew exactly what I needed and tried things outside of brands I might usually expect. She was diligent and kind and managed to handle and help me and like six different people around me at the same time, without making me feel ignored. Then, I went to get a backpack fitted. There was no one near backpacks, so I sat there for a minute texting my partner. Unbeknownst to me, my partner called the store and asked somebody to go over and subtly help me. And they did! A young man named Tyler helped me figure out my torso length and exactly which backpack suited me and the trip I’m about to go on. He was friendly, jovial, and made it feel easy to approach him if I had more questions. Needless to say, I paid for a membership on my way out. I look forward to coming back. Cannot thank everyone at this REI enough. If management reads this, please give the folks I mentioned props. They were fantastic.
• CC

  Cattist

  Aug 4, 2026
  5.0
  I visited a few weeks ago- I needed help finding a backpack for my Peru trip and Kirk was great! He was able to balance helping me and another couple, provided great insight and knowledge on backpack mechanics, and went above and beyond to help, even helping to load and secure a backpack for me to try on. Thank you so much for your help, Kirk!
• CK

  Colin Kao

  Jul 25, 2026
  4.0
  This site has great customer service, but they get overwhelmed at sales and holidays. It's very small. It's busy enough to justify making a it a big climbing wall level store. Let's put in a cafe. C'mon, REI, step it up!
• CH

  Cindy H

  Jul 25, 2026
  5.0
  I love REI, and the bike shop at Oak Brook deserves a shout out! Earlier this summer, I came in to test ride a bike or two. Turns out, there were a few in stock that interested me and that I wanted to try. Each bike was given a safety inspection and adjustment before I took it outside for a spin. While I had no intention to buy a bike that day, I walked out with my new ride a couple of hours after I walked in. Bill, Aaron, and the other employees at the shop were very patient, helpful, and informative, despite being very busy. Moreover, when I returned the next day with a flat tire, they changed it out right away for no charge. Thanks to the employees at this shop for helping me find my new gravel bike!
• CH

  Chrissy Hart

  Jul 19, 2026
  1.0
  My fiance and I road tripped to this store specifically for the Subaru REI event. We were really disappointed. Last night, we made it there just after the event finished for the day, and was told they just packed up. They said they ended up at a little table inside for Friday and Saturday due to the poor air quality from the wildfire smoke and wind, but expected to be able to have the tent up and open today. We went back this morning, and found them inside again, but this time they said they can't ever have the tent open at that location, because of the footprint of the parking lot. We still had questions about the tent, and how well it would work with the Solterra, but the Subaru people were just pretty faces handing out swag. They couldn't even say how easy or difficult it is to set up and use the tent on the Outback they had parked on the curb at the door, instead directing us to the Thule display on the other side of the store, to talk to REI staff. We were disappointed in the REI staff at this store, as well. At other REI locations I have been to, the staff in an area of the store were subject matter experts on the products in the area. I had some questions about the Thule crossbar systems and rooftop tents, it took quite some time to get a staff member to come up, but she didn't really know the product, just looked up the same limited information from the Thule website that I already had. I ended up finding a different employee who let me borrow a tape measure, and told me what to measure to check the fit of some resupply parts that I was looking at.

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