Providing Experience and Advice

Members are usually on a simple mission: to get great gear at reasonable prices. And they want good advice on how to choose it and use it. We're able to provide experience and advice in two ways, through our staff members and our website.

Our Staff

MEC employees like to share what they know. They're trained to help members choose the right gear for their activity and level of experience. In 2011, we invested almost $180,000 in training to ensure we have experienced and knowledgeable staff.

Choosing gear is one thing. Explaining how to use it is another. Our staff members support both. Members can always find an employee who participates in an activity, and learn from their experiences and advice. Stores also coordinate clinics, such as bike maintenance or learning to layer clothes.

Our Website

Members (and others) use mec.ca first and foremost to seek out information. Mec.ca provides product information, as well as advice, knowledge, skills, and connections to help members recreate outdoors. In terms of product information, members have told us they'd like more detail, so we're improving our internal systems to meet this need. We've updated our product attributes and implemented a comparison feature that allows members to more easily evaluate products.

We also dedicate an entire section of our website to Learning. From avalanche safety, to waxing Nordic skis, cycling with kids, or layering clothing, chances are we provide information to help our members out.

What's Next?

We'll continue to provide leading knowledge and advice by improving systems for staff to access product information. We'll keep featuring more product information on mec.ca. We'll also continue to deepen our community presence, providing skill-building workshops and online information, as well as opportunities to connect with others.