Is the market drowning in newbies?

[Robert Steele]

I have been getting the impression over the past two years that more and more people are entering the world of REI.

When I started a decade ago I was somewhat of a pariah amongst friends, family and work colleges. Now days it seems that every man and his dog are jumping on the REI band wagon.

Just this past year I've seen work colleges buying them, neighbors buying them, friends of friends buying them. I even overhear people talking around the water cooler about how so-and-so are getting into the landlord bushiness. Just look at the number of new member introductions popping up here on BP everyday - it's getting hard to wade through them.

Is this the impression you are also getting and if so why do you think it is occurring?

And if you are one of these newbies why are you jumping in?