Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) scored a public relations coup last week by announcing it would close on Black Friday for the first time since it was founded in 1938so its employees and customers could spend the day outdoors.

The Seattle-based retailer announced Oct. 27 that it would close all 143 of its retail locations the day after Thanksgiving, as well as its e-commerce operations, headquarters and two distribution centers. REI will  pay all 12,000 of its employees, including part-time retail associates, for the day as if they worked a full eight-hour shift, an REI spokesperson confirmed Thursday.

Those visiting REI.com on Nov. 27 will find a black screen with a message taken right out of the Patagonia playbook encouraging them not to shop and instead #OptOutside. By Oct. 29, 303,000 people were following the hashtag on Twitter, including U.S. Representative Ron Wyden, D-OR, who tweeted: “If you’re going to #OptOutside next month, please consider visiting #7WondersOregon. I did – and love it.”

Business Reporter Hadley Malcolm tweeted that her article about the announcement was the most popular story she had ever written for USA Today. By Friday morning, more than 200,000 people had shared the article on Facebook and more than 6,600 had tweeted it.

“As a member-owned co-op, our definition of success goes beyond money,” said REI President and CEO Jerry Stritzke. “We believe that a life lived outdoors is a life well lived and we aspire to be stewards of our great outdoors. We think that Black Friday has gotten out of hand and so we are choosing to invest in helping people get outside with loved ones this holiday season, over spending it in the aisles.”

In a Tuesday morning interview with CBS This Morning, Stritzke said REI employees came up with the idea after he challenged them nine months ago to find ways REI could be authentic to its outdoor roots during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“I have to admit it was a bit shocking,” said Strizke, who joined REI in August, 2013 after five years of serving as president of Coach Inc. “But the more we thought about it the more excited we got about it.”

Year-to-date sales up double digits
During the interview, Stritzke divulged REI sales are on track to grow double digits this year for the second year in a row, but he said the decision to close on Black Friday had more to do with branding.

The announcement set off REI from national retailers who have steadily intruded into the holiday by asking employees to report to work on Thanksgiving to prepare for door buster sales that often open at midnight.

While the announcement resulted in an immediate public relations bonanza for REI, the decision is certain to cost REI sales. An REI source confirmed that Black Friday is among the retailer’s 10 top sales volume days of the year. On the other hand, some national retailers have recently opted to close the day after Thanksgiving after concluding that paying staff overtime to work deeply discounted sales did not make business sense.

While sales of outdoor product spike sharply in the week of Thanksgiving, which is typically the 48th week of the calendar year, they are surpassed in each of the remaining four weeks of the year, according to SSI Outdoor, which collects data from more than 15,000 points-of-sale. SSI Outdoor show weekly sales of outdoor products have peaked in the 51st week in each of the last three years, which has accounted for between 4 and 5 percent of the industry’s annual sales.

Vendors jump on board
Regardless, REI vendors Outdoor Research and Sole rushed to embrace the #OptOutside campaign the day REI announced it.  Both companies will give employees a paid day off and encouraging them to share their outdoor adventures on social media using both the #OptOutside and their own hashtags.

 “REI’s decision is monumental,” said Outdoor Research CEO Dan Nordstrom. “The REI campaign resonated powerfully for us because it aligns with our own values.”

In his interview with CBS, Stritzke said he doubted any national retailers would take up the challenge.
Contacted Oct. 29, Moosejaw President and CEO Eoin Comerford praised REI’s decision, but said the Michigan-based retailer will open its 11 stores and Moosejaw.com as planned on Black Friday. 

“I think it's genius and wish we'd thought of it first,” said Comerford. “That said, we don't plan to follow suit.”