Mountain Equipment Co-op

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Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is a Canadian outdoor equipment retailer. It’s set up as a co-op, which means you must be a member to shop there. Memberships are available to anyone, for $5. Memberships are lifetime shares in the company, and never expire.

MEC was founded in 1971 as a co-op resource to help climbers buy hard-to-find gear.

As of 2007, MEC has more than 2.6 million members, and sales of $250 million.

MEC defines its purpose this way:

Directed by the members, MEC fulfills its core purpose – to help people enjoy the benefits of self-propelled wilderness-oriented recreation. We do that by selling outdoor gear, clothing, and services.

Activities Embraced by MEC

MEC sells gear for a variety of activities, including cycling, hiking, camping, climbing, snow sports (especially less traditional activities such as backcountry skiing, telemark skiing, and snowshoeing), water sports such as paddling (canoe and kayak, whitewater and flatwater), and more. MEC is also a favourite outfitter for students gearing up to go on backpacking trips throughout the world.

Environment, Leadership, Walking the Walk

MEC does various things to walk the walk right. Its brick-and-mortar stores are designed and operated with efficiency and conservation in mind. (The Toronto building for one has signs around it pointing out the ways in which the building was designed to have as small an environmental impact as possible.) Its buildings also offer lots of bicycle rack space, for shoppers and for the community, to encourage a more ecologically friendly way of commuting.

MEC is operated democratically, with all members entitled to vote in the election of boards of directors. All members get one vote, period, to keep the power in the hands of the membership as a whole.

MEC also takes a stand where it can, on environmental and social issues. For the products manufactured under the MEC brands, it sources materials “that are grown organically, recycled, or made without environmental nastiness.” MEC offers recycling programs (for polyester clothes, for example, as well as batteries and printer cartridges), supports fair trade, and environmentally friendly practices in its manufacturers and suppliers. It will stop carrying merchandise if there’s a good reason to do so – it removed Nalgene bottles from its offerings when questions arose about the health implications of Nalgene’s plastics.

MEC is a member of 1% For The Planet.

Profits at year’s end are used to fund the business, for charitable donations, education, or “returned to the members in the form of share redemptions.” The company’s site claimsto have donated more than $9 million in 1987, and expects its 1% for the Planet commitment to hit $2 million in 2007.

Retail Stores

Victoria

1450 Government Street, 250-386-2667

Toronto

400 King Street West, 416-340-2667

Vancouver

130 West Broadway, 604-872-7858

Ottawa

366 Richmond Road, 613-729-2700

North Vancouver

1341 Main Street, 604-990-4417

Montreal

8989, boulevard de l'Acadie, 514-788-5878

Calgary

830 10th Avenue SW, 403-269-2420

Quebec City

405, rue Saint-Joseph Est, 418-522-8884

Edmonton

12328 – 102 Avenue NW, 780-488-6614

Halifax

1550 Granville Street, 902-421-2667

Winnipeg

303 Portage Avenue, 204-943-4202