Tuesday, October 27, 2015

REI: We're Closing On Black Friday, Go Outside

Seattle-based outdoors retailer REI has a message for its customers: stop shopping on Black Friday. The company sent an email to its customers on Monday evening, saying that--instead of following the tradition of the wild, shopping frenzy that is Black Friday, it is shutting all 143 of its stores. The move to shut down on what is traditionally the retail industry's biggest ever sales day--the day after Thanksgiving--comes even as other retailers are even opening up their doors on Thanksgiving itself, in a bid to wring more shopping hours out of the holiday season. In its email to customer, REI says it had launched a new website, optoutside.rei.com, to give its users ideas on what to do in the outdoors during Black Friday, rather than go shopping.