Thrive Market built a 1.7 million-member grocery business by making the aisle smaller, the standards stricter and the box easier to trust. Its real product is not delivery - it is relief from reading every label.
REI became the outdoor store for people who wanted more than a transaction: advice, a dividend and a vote. With 26 million members and $3.54 billion in annual sales, its next climb is making cooperative ideals work at chain-store scale.