Avery Trufelman

REI

You know, they've been around for a long time.

They've been around since the 30s, but a member of their co-op was a veteran and was able to get early access to some of the surplus stuff.

And this was a really great way for a young company, in addition to making their own stuff, to be like, and you can also get surplus here.

You know, it's like, oh, their shelves are suddenly much more full.

And they were sort of making their own gear alongside selling the surplus.

It was a great boon for a lot of companies.

In the 70s, they're selling berets and military jackets with extra patches on them.

It's like the military look becomes this trend.

And to hear about how this happened, I talked to a woman named Patricia Ziegler.

Initially, Patricia wasn't a fan of military surplus herself.

In the 1970s, Patricia was an artist.

She was working in-house as an illustrator at the San Francisco Chronicle.

And that's where she started dating a reporter named Mel.

I met Mel, and he would buy things at surplus stores.

Mel and Patricia fell in love, and together they quit their 9-to-5 jobs.

They just wanted to make enough money to paint and write and travel.

Mel had gotten it at a surplus shop down there.

And to Patricia, this jacket had a really different vibe.

Mel looked really dashing and swashbuckling in this jacket.