REI Skipping Black Friday Again in 2018
Posted on October 23, 2018
REI Co-op has announced that it will be closing all stores on Thanskgiving and Black Friday (11-23) again this year. This is part of its #OptOutside alternative to Black Friday that it started in 2015.
REI first started closing its doors on Black Friday with the 2015 campaign. REI continues to encourage its customers and employees to spend the day outside as it did in 2015. This year, REI is also pledging $1 million to support for the launch of a new center of academic excellence at the University of Washington. The new center will study the link between human health and time spent outdoors.
REI says in a statement, "Because we think spending time outdoors is more important. So we pay our employees to #OptOutside, and invite the world to join. But this year, it’s bigger than just one day. It’s about our routines-the ones we need and the ones we need to rethink."
You can find ads for retailers with Black Friday deals in our Black Friday section. Here's a video of REI's #OptOutside campaign.