The REI workers are basically employees of a retail company that happens to be a coop. The coop part is for shopper/consumer members of people who buy things at REI.
i see thanks for explaining. i wish they were a bit more clear about that upfront. i had assumed the workers received some of the dividends as well, given their personal investment in the firm.
REI is routinely rated one of the best places to work. When I was there, we had both a pension plan and a 401k with match. Part time employees got PTO and (really good) insurance. They have mandatory paid sabbaticals on top of PTO. But as an employee you get no dividend, as the dividend is based on purchases, and the discounts available were far greater than the 10% back. Still, I wish I had stayed and moved into a technical role as I have never been treated as well as an employee as when I was there.