Outdoor retailer REI (Seattle) announced that its stores will be closed this Black Friday, and every Black Friday moving forward. Instead, REI will be making Black Friday a permanent paid holiday for employees.
While the day after Thanksgiving is famously the busiest shopping day of the year for many retailers, REI is going the opposite direction. The company has been closing on Black Friday since 2015, instead preferring to push an “Opt Outside” movement on that day, urging its employees to spend time outside instead of shopping.
REI’s announcement notes that Opt Outside “has evolved from a response against consumerism to a movement that has advocated for causes important to the co-op.”
It’s not just the store locations that will be closed, either — all REI distribution centers, activity centers, call centers, and the company headquarters will shut down every Black Friday, as well. Even online orders that are placed on Black Friday will not be processed and/or fulfilled until the next day.
In other REI news from this week, the retailer announced a new partnership with footwear brand Allbirds.