Worn Wear is Patagonia's hub for keeping gear in play.
Why extend the life of gear? Because the best thing we can do for the planet is cut down on consumption and get more use out of stuff we already own.
Join us to repair, share and recycle your gear.
AIUI, online returns that are slightly mangled and in store returns that aren’t quite like-new are also sold here, as well as serviceable but old clothes you can exchange.
NB you can also perpetually repair most patagonia clothes, for free. They do most repairs in contract with local tailors, and have a central repair shop for bigger jobs, so they keep money in the neighborhood and also cut way down on shipping emissions.
There are others that do a good job on clothes. Not for returns maybe, but long term support.
Nudie Jeans have repair shops in quite a few cities. The repairs are free. If you don’t like to keep your jeans then they give you a discount (20%?) if you trade your old Nudies in. The sell them second hand after they fix them up. I got a recent pair repaired (unusable before the repair) and bought a second hand pair for $50. So effectively I got two pairs for $25 each. Never buying any other brand jeans again I think. https://www.nudiejeans.com/repair-spots#stores
Trippen shoes in German repair their shoes. I have had shoes from them for at least 20 years. I wore some for 12-15 years with a good refurbishment in between. They are not cheap, but comfortable, sturdy and refurbishable. They mailed them back to me when done.
https://en.trippen.com/reparaturen
I had an REI jacket, problem with the zipper. They replaced the zipper, and all the buttons on the zipper flap. Free. I think I gave the jacket away eventually, a very good jacket.
REI seems to have cut back on or eliminated repairs though. The last time I took an item into an REI to be repaired--where I had had repairs done previously--the customer service person told me to mail it off to an outdoor repair place in Seattle (not REI). And they've also cut back their warranty to one year.
If the item was made of a gore-tex or other specialty materials, they may have been unauthorized to repair it in-store. The Seattle place you’re referring to is Rainy Pass Repair, a well-known and popular repair shop that is licensed to work with gore-tex and other exotics.
It was probably Rainy Pass Repair. They have been doing that for quite some time, and in many ways I prefer having a shop I can take any of this stuff to, not just the "REI" repair shop.
So, these aren't really "worn" correct? At first, I assumed the inventory was thrift and my jaw dropped when I saw the prices. They should consider rebranding...
$150 for a hoodie layer (R1) i’ve repaired 5 times and had for a decade amortizes out to a pretty fair price.
And they have an excellent culture. Employees get voting days off, they’re closed on black friday, they do loads of good sponsorship and support for outdoor sports, they’re happy to spend on conservation efforts...
I’d rather give them my money than many other companies.
They say that at least some of them are really worn, and there is a tag inside each garment explaining how to return it after you're done with it. How many are actually worn, I have no idea.
I'm seeing more and more stores these days selling brand new things as refurbished just as a form of price differentiation. Unless you really believe that Kitchen Aid has hundreds of returned stand mixers in every single color.
Worn Wear is Patagonia's hub for keeping gear in play.
Why extend the life of gear? Because the best thing we can do for the planet is cut down on consumption and get more use out of stuff we already own.
Join us to repair, share and recycle your gear.
AIUI, online returns that are slightly mangled and in store returns that aren’t quite like-new are also sold here, as well as serviceable but old clothes you can exchange.
NB you can also perpetually repair most patagonia clothes, for free. They do most repairs in contract with local tailors, and have a central repair shop for bigger jobs, so they keep money in the neighborhood and also cut way down on shipping emissions.