REI is always full of staff that knows the products, is helpful, and all without being pushy. We went in to ask some questions about bike maintenance. We had our questions answered without ever having anyone try and push us into a pair of new bikes that just aren't in the budget right now. In the end, we tried someone else to do our repairs but will keep REI in mind in the future.
We've bought shoes and camping equipment from REI stores. And the garage sales CAN be worth the trip of members. The last garage sale I went to at this location is the only reason I'm not giving this store a 5. That was a clusterfu... clusterclump.