Most loyalty programs are free, which tells you exactly what they are worth.
You hand over an email address, you receive points you forget about, and the company gets your purchase history.
Now consider a retailer that charges a one-time fee to join, and has signed up millions of people anyway.
Those members are not collecting points. They are part owners of a cooperative, which is a fundamentally different legal and commercial arrangement.
It is one of the largest consumer cooperatives in the United States, it sells outdoor equipment, and the structure explains nearly everything distinctive about how it behaves.
Including the decision to close on one of the biggest shopping days of the year, which is the part people remember.