It's a matter of distribution: there's much more to retail than just the price. In order to mazimize sales, Park Tools needs to be in as many stores as possible. For a store to carry a brand's products, they must be profitable. Thus, PT needs to maximize its distribution while maximizing retail profitability AND maintain its premium brand status. It does this by offering hefty discounts to retailers who buy in bulk and making sure the people think Park Tools are the best, thus worth the 50%+ retail markup. MEC is messing up their model because they sell at near the wholesale price, which ruins it for everyone else, who then refuse to carry PT. The real issue (Canada in small potatos in the retail world) is that MEC was shipping to the States, especially when the exchange was US-favourable. Thus, they were ruining it for US retailers too, who cried bloody murder to PT, who cut off MEC. That's why so many MEC items can't be shipped south.

As for carrying all the brand name stuff now, well, that's a really complicated story. I'll say this: MEC is certainly NOT the non-profit, friendly company people think it is - it's one of the most cutthroat competitors around (but to the benefit of its members, and to the frustration of most companies).