“It was like somebody flipped a switch,” the user wrote.

The critique set off a wave of similar stories from other disgruntled workers. One user wrote that his time working at REI was “one of the most profoundly disappointing experiences of my life.”

Mr. Stritzke assured the forum that he was paying close attention to concerns over the emphasis on membership sales. He said employees should be judged foremost on their “skill, deep outdoor knowledge and customer service.”

In a post written on an internal company blog on Wednesday, Mr. Stritzke said he believed that “the conversation about membership sales is legitimate.” He said the company’s management would be “digging in further” and studying the issue.

“You need to know that as we discuss this, if we decide that something needs to be changed, we will change it,” he wrote. “One way or another, we will talk more about it.”