REI Labor Day Sale Turns Clearance Into a Membership Machine

REI’s Labor Day Sale opened August 28 and runs through September 7 with up to 50% off clearance outdoor gear and 25% off selected seasonal apparel and packs. The same window layers lifetime membership bonuses that already helped the co-op add one million owners last year.

Shoppers chasing HOKA runners under $100 or half-price Patagonia layers will find them. The quieter math belongs to the people who join or already hold the $30 lifetime stake.

REI’s Labor Day Sale Runs Through September 7

The co-op’s official Labor Day Sale announcement sets the window from August 28 to September 7 in stores and at REI.com. Headline offers stretch across footwear, packs, racks and house-brand apparel, with clearance forming the deepest tier.

• 25% off selected REI Co-op brand clothing and gear
• 25% off all Darn Tough socks
• 20% off Thule and Yakima racks and boxes
• 25% off selected Altra footwear and all KEEN footwear
• 25% off selected Osprey packs and all Sea to Summit products
• Up to 50% off clearance

Two Outlet flash windows push select items as deep as 60% off: August 31-September 1 and September 3-4. Members stack an extra 20% off one Outlet item and an extra 25% off bike-part installation services with a product purchase. Prices match online and in stores while supplies last.

New members who join through September 7 and spend $50 or more in the same order receive a $30 bonus card for a future purchase. The one-time membership fee itself is $30 for life. That pairing turns the fee into a wash for anyone already planning a modest cart.

Clearance Hits 50 Percent on Patagonia and HOKA

Specific early markdowns tracked across roundups match the deepest clearance tier. Men’s HOKA Clifton 10 road-running shoes sit near $99.83 from $155. Women’s Brooks Ghost Max 3 land around $110 from $160. Select Patagonia pieces, including quilted bombers and R1 Air hoodies, hit roughly half off near $99 from $199. Arc’teryx Atom insulated hoodies appear near $200 from $300. North Face rain shells and REI Co-op 650 down vests also clear at 25-50% reductions. A Cannondale Topstone 1 bike has been listed near $540 off its $2,699 sticker.

These figures come from the August 27 Good Morning America roundup and subsequent retailer-confirmed listings; dynamic pricing and stock mean exact cents can shift. The current Labor Day sale page groups the categories by activity and brand for live browsing.

• Footwear and running shoes see the sharpest early cuts on popular HOKA and Brooks models.
• Insulated and rain layers from Patagonia, Arc’teryx and The North Face dominate apparel clearance.
• Camping tents, kids’ chairs and REI Co-op basics fill the mid-tier 25% band.
• Bike and travel gear, including the Topstone gravel bike and racks, carry larger absolute dollar savings.

Percentage cuts on a tent or pair of pants look similar on paper. Absolute dollars on a gravel bike or a rack system move the needle farther for shoppers already priced into those categories. That is why the same sale page surfaces both half-off layers and multi-hundred-dollar bike discounts side by side.

The $30 Lifetime Stake Behind Every Discount

Everyone can shop the sale. The structure rewards the co-op’s owners more heavily. A one-time $30 fee buys lifetime membership with no renewals. That stake unlocks a bundle of year-round privileges that non-members do not receive on the same terms.

• Annual Co-op Member Reward, typically 10% back on eligible full-price purchases
• Free standard U.S. shipping
• Full-year satisfaction guarantee versus 90 days for non-members
• Member-only coupons and Re/Supply used-gear access
• Shop-service discounts and a vote on the board

REI reported more than 26 million members after adding one million net new owners in 2025. The same year the co-op returned $203 million to members through those rewards and posted $3.54 billion in net sales. Gross profit rose 7% on stronger full-price selling and inventory discipline even as the co-op narrowed its full-year net loss.

This past year showed what’s possible when we stay grounded in our Peak 28 strategy and true to who we are.

Mary Beth Laughton, president and CEO of REI Co-op, 2025 financial results

The Labor Day window simply concentrates the conversion offer: join, spend $50, pocket a $30 card that effectively refunds the fee, then keep the lifetime benefits. The sale markdowns draw the cart. The membership terms keep the relationship after the racks turn over.

How Co-op Rewards Pay Back

Eligible full-price merchandise purchases from January 1 to December 31 accumulate toward the next March’s Co-op Member Reward. The typical rate is 10% of net qualified spend. Sale, clearance, Outlet, used gear, gift cards, services and shipping do not count toward the reward base. The payout arrives as store credit usable the following year and can combine patronage dividend and promotional components under the co-op bylaws.

Members can track activity in their online account. The how the 10% Co-op Member Reward works page spells out the exclusions and timing. In practice a member who buys $1,000 of full-price gear in a year often sees roughly $100 back the next March, on top of any member coupons or Mastercard 5% back if they hold the co-branded card.

During this sale the extra 20% Outlet coupon (code LABORDAY26 for members) and bike-shop install discount stack on top of the base markdowns. That is the hidden-stakeholder layer: the same transaction that clears summer inventory also deepens the owner relationship.

The exclusions matter for timing. A clearance jacket bought in early September does not feed the March reward base. A full-price replacement layer bought in October does. Shoppers who split carts between deep sale pieces and later full-price needs capture both the immediate markdown and the delayed credit.

New Members Get a $30 Bonus Card Through the Sale

The limited-time new-member offer is simple. Add the $30 lifetime membership and at least $50 of merchandise to the same order by September 7. REI issues a $30 single-use promo card for a future purchase. Terms apply and the card has a short window, yet the net cash outlay for membership can drop to zero on a modest cart.

Existing members already holding numbers simply apply the Outlet extra 20% and service discounts. Both groups keep the year-round free shipping and extended returns. The lifetime Co-op membership details page currently surfaces the Labor Day bonus card offer at the top.

For frequent buyers the break-even arrives fast. One solid full-price jacket or pair of boots the following spring, plus free shipping on a few orders, covers the original thirty dollars many times over. Occasional shoppers still gain the longer return window and the chance to vote.

The $50 merchandise floor is low enough to clear with a single pair of sale shoes or a discounted layer. That design keeps the bonus reachable without forcing a large upsell beyond what the shopper already came to buy.

From 1 Million New Owners to 26 Million

REI’s 2025 results, released in the 2025 financial results and impact report, show the membership engine in numbers. The same owner base that shops Labor Day also funds rewards, store investment and advocacy work tied to public lands.

Emissions fell 15% from the 2019 baseline. Six store openings or relocations extended the physical footprint. The co-op generated a record 1.2 million messages to elected officials on public lands through its Cooperative Action Network and helped secure more than $2.5 billion in local and state funding.

Those outcomes ride on the same owner base that shops the Labor Day event. Membership growth and sale traffic reinforce each other: the event converts browsers into owners, and owners return for the reward cycle that follows.

The Co-op Calendar Places Labor Day Midway

Annual sale calendar context is steady across the year. Each event plays a different inventory and membership role rather than repeating the same pitch.

1. Mid-March – Member Sale opens the spring reward and shopping cycle.
2. Anniversary and Memorial Day – the biggest event of the year for volume and breadth.
3. Fourth of July – a shorter summer checkpoint on seasonal gear.
4. Labor Day (August 28-September 7) – shoulder-season handoff with clearance depth and the new-member bonus card.
5. Black Friday and Cyber – close the calendar with late-year demand.

Labor Day sits at the shoulder-season handoff, clearing summer stock while priming fall hiking, camping and cycling demand. Outlet flash dates inside the window add urgency without extending the full event past September 7.

Compared with the Anniversary and Memorial Day peak, Labor Day is narrower in duration and heavier on clearance mix. Compared with Black Friday, it arrives before cold-weather demand fully spikes, so buyers can secure layers and packs while sizes remain broader than they will be in late November.

Member Extras Keep Working After Checkout

Once the September 7 close passes, sale prices and the new-member bonus card end. The lifetime stake does not. Free standard U.S. shipping, the full-year satisfaction guarantee, Re/Supply access, member coupons and the board vote all continue without renewal fees.

The Co-op Member Reward clock also keeps running on eligible full-price purchases made after the event. A member who used Labor Day only for clearance can still build a March credit with later full-price buys. The 10% typical rate and the March payout timing stay the same whether the cart formed during a sale week or a quiet week.

Service discounts follow the same pattern. The extra 25% off bike-part installation is a sale-window sweetener. Shop-service pricing advantages for members remain part of the broader membership package after the promo codes expire. Owners who join for the bonus card therefore leave with tools that outlast the flash windows by years.

Shoulder-Season Stock Clears for Fall Adventures

Summer tents, sun shirts and warm-weather footwear move first. Insulated layers, rain shells, trail runners and packs take their place. The deep clearance on last-season colors and the 25% cuts on current Osprey, KEEN and Sea to Summit lines give buyers ready gear before cooler weather arrives without waiting for Black Friday.

Bike shoppers see absolute-dollar savings on gravel platforms and racks that matter more than the percentage. Families pick up kids’ chairs and screened tents at 25% off. Runners lock in cushioned road shoes under $110. The member extras simply amplify whatever cart they build.

Sale ends September 7. Flash Outlet windows sit inside that span. Membership bonus cards for new joiners expire with the event. Stock on popular sizes of the HOKA Clifton 10 and half-price Patagonia pieces moves fastest, according to the roundups that first flagged them.

The numbers already on the books show what the stake produces: 26 million owners, $203 million returned in one year, and a retailer still investing in public lands and circular materials while it clears the racks for the next season.