REI Will Keep Its Door Closed This Black Friday

REI will keep its door closed on Black Friday and hopes you #optoutside with them. Wikipedia photo.

Quick! Tell Mom & Dad they can save themselves the risk of death by a 4 AM Black Friday stampeding while hunting for your Christmas ski socks, as REI will keep its doors firmly locked on American commerce's most feverish day of the year. The outdoor retailer announced yesterday that it will not be operating on the day after Thanksgiving–a day typically reserved for shedding all standards of human decency in order to beat all your neighbors to get that one Miley Cyrus wind-up doll or whatever the kids are into this year–and will instead be encouraging its employees and customers to #optoutside, get some fresh air, and burn off the tryptophan.

The full-page ad that Patagonia took out in The New York Times in 2011 on Black Friday. Patagonia photo.

The counter-capitalism move on the most important day for retail sales across the country is the second big move of its kind from an outdoor brand. In 2011, Patagonia took out a full-page ad in The New York Times that proclaimed "Don't buy this jacket," and encouraged consumers to buy less of everything during the holiday season while highlighting the extensive resources required to produce any of their garments.

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Both moves will have brought both Patagonia and REI more outdoor devotees as customers, all the while serving as a small voice shouting out against the madness that Black Friday has spiraled into. Of course, it's only a matter of time before squadrons of Amazon drones are delivering us Black Friday purchases and foregoing the need to stampede other humans in the checkout line at Walmart. #Progress

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stash member Ryan Dunfee

Former Managing Editor at Teton Gravity Research, current Senior Contributor, current professional hippy at the Sierra Club, and avid weekend recreationalist.