Seattle-based outdoor retailer REI is sending another message this year to competitors and consumers who are looking for the big bucks and best deals on Black Friday — you should be outdoors.
For the second straight year, REI will #optoutside and close its 149 store locations on the traditionally huge U.S. shopping day after Thanksgiving. The co-op will pay all 12,287 of its employees to take the day off and enjoy the outdoors. Once again, shoppers are free to use REI’s website, but orders will not be processed until the following day.
This Black Friday @REI is closing to #OptOutside again. Will you go out with us? Retweet to receive a reminder. pic.twitter.com/FiCsQxVNfC
— REI (@REI) October 21, 2016
“This year, REI will shut down on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday because fundamentally we believe that being outside makes us our best selves — healthier and happier, physically and mentally. But as a nation we’re still spending over 90 percent of our lives indoors and it’s a trend we need to tackle,” REI CEO Jerry Stritzke said in a news release. “I love that there is a community of people in this country who dedicate their lives to that mission, so together, we are asking America “Will you go out with us?”
REI, which has more than 6 million active members, is again promoting the #optoutside hashtag and a special landing page on its website will serve as a hub for users to encourage others to join the movement, find activities, and share adventures.
The success of last year’s effort, and the desire to make Thanksgiving more than just a jumping off point for holiday consumerism, has prompted more than 275 organizations to join in spreading the #optoutside message. According to REI, nonprofits and government organizations, such as the National Parks Service, as well as other companies, such as Subaru of America, Keen, Burton, Google and Upworthy, are already involved at launch.
“We believe a life outdoors is a life well lived,” Stritzke said during a speech to the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 30. He said REI had an “amazing response” to #optoutside in 2015.
“It was a statement that people found compelling, and it was a statement that I would say was born out of a solid set of Northwest values,” Stritzke said.
