Mountain Equipment Co-op went from a Canadian co-op run by actual outdoors people to a private equity asset, then back to Canadian ownership in 2020. The speaker celebrates the return but warns it's still a private company chasing profit, not the democratic member-owned business it once was.
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You remember when Mountain Equipment Co-op was Canadian? You could wander in and know that the person helping you had actually used a kayak and not just seen one in a Patagonia ad. Good times. Then came 2020, when Mountain Equipment Co-op was quietly handed over to an American private equity firm. It was a betrayal, plain and simple. One day we were all members of a beloved patchouli-scented co-op built by rock climbers and backcountry campers. The next, it was run by 3 guys who think Gore-Tex is a cryptocurrency. But now MEC is back again under Canadian ownership, thanks to a bunch of Canuck investors who know that being Canadian means loving the land and the layers. Let's not get too misty-eyed just yet. This isn't MEC returning to its crunchy granola co-op roots. We're not getting member dividends and board elections back. This is still going to be a private company, which means we will be sharing the tent with money-minded capitalists. Now, that said, it could be worse. At least it's not run by a hedge fund guy named Chad. And unlike the last round, the folks in charge seem to actually like camping. There's even talk of reshoring manufacturing to Canada, which is a bold stance in the country where most things labeled Made in Canada are either maple syrup or a CBC podcast. And I don't know about you, but I am tired of watching our national brands go south. Literally and figuratively. Tim Hortons, The Bay, Roots, Molson, Canada Goose, Canada Dry. Hell, even the RCMP licensed its brand to Disney. So yes, MEC is Canadian again. Will it feel the same? Probably not. Will it still sell overpriced water bottles and backpacks with more buckles than a leather bar on Pride weekend? Absolutely. But at least for now, when you buy a tent, your money will stay in the pockets of people who've been in cold that wasn't just air conditioning. And if we're lucky, if the new owners stick to the spirit of what MEC used to be, maybe, just maybe, we can get back to a time when shopping for carabiners felt like an act of national pride. Because in Canada, the only thing we should be exporting is politeness, not our best businesses. Welcome home, MEC. Now toss me that headlamp. The real one, not the app.
