Stores have been opening earlier and earlier on Black Friday. Then, they started opening at midnight on Thanksgiving. Then, it got worse: Stores started opening on Thanksgiving morning.
But it doesn’t just wreck the concept of Thanksgiving, it destroys the ability of the people who WORK at the stores to actually enjoy the holiday.
Well, the camping gear chain REI just changed the game. Instead of opening as early as possible, they just announced they’re going to close all 143 of their stores on Black Friday and give all 12,000 of their employees a paid day off.
It’s part of a campaign to get people to go outside and enjoy themselves. Their website will still be up, but they won’t have any special Black Friday promotions, and they won’t process the orders until Saturday.
It’s a pretty bold move, and it’ll definitely cost them millions in sales. But their CEO says: “We define success a little differently. It’s much broader than money. How do we get people outside?”