Pros
REI has taken excellent care of me over the years. They've paid me tuition reimbursement for school, given me a grant of gear to run a marathon, contributed largely to my retirement savings and just clearly have the best in mind for their employees. Schedules are flexible and the team works hard to make time-off requests work so you can have a full life. The company proudly supports gay marriage, and works hard to be a good employer for minorities including but not limited to racial and ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities (trans people). Oh, and your coworkers will become the shining light you look forward to daily. :)
Cons
It's still a co-op and a family, which is great, but the very fact that people are so valued and trusted means no micromanagement. Sounds awesome until you have to humor someone else's dumb idea. Keep this in mind when you pitch your own dumb ideas. Everybody's opinion counts. Also, staffing varies hugely throughout the year. It's a retail necessity. I advise anyone to have REI be a second job if they're not going into management.