I have to find a way to shop at REI more

REI, the sporting/outdoor equipment and clothing retailer, announced that they're bucking recent trends by closing their stores on Black Friday (not to mention Thanksgiving).

http://optoutside.rei.com/

I'm happy to see a major retailer take a stand which could have negative effects on their business on the principle that a) their employees deserve a couple of days off (with pay) and b) the rabid consumerism of Black Friday has gotten out of hand.

Now that we have an REI nearby (on Route 10 in East Hanover) it isn't so hard to shop there. The prices can be on the high side (as compared to Campmor, for instance) but they do have good sales and great people and merchandise!

I love REI. When we had that crappy winter last year, we made the best of it by renting snow shoes from them and going to the Rez. The staff there is incredibly knowledgeable. Good stuff.

If you become a member, you get a dividend credit - I believe 10% of your purchases - at the end of the year that you can use toward future purchases.

jasper said:
If you become a member, you get a dividend credit - I believe 10% of your purchases - at the end of the year that you can use toward future purchases.

You can also take the cash - they don't make you use it toward a purchase, which is nice.

TigerLilly said:

jasper said:
If you become a member, you get a dividend credit - I believe 10% of your purchases - at the end of the year that you can use toward future purchases.

You can also take the cash - they don't make you use it toward a purchase, which is nice.

Oh, thanks, I don't know if I realized that, but I bought a great pair of Kuhl pants instead with last year's proceeds. ; - )

I loved REI already, but this is just another reason to admire them.

REI Rocks! Last week we stopped in their Bend OR location to pickup a few things. They had a board up in the front of the store where employees had written down what they planned to do on the holiday. They were also handing out flyers to customers telling them to go play outdoors and recommending things to do in the area on Black Friday.

The thing is, the Internet has made Black Friday as a physical event pretty much unnecessary. Except for the stores where the sales are insane to the point where people line up all night and trample each other. And THAT should be outlawed. The whole concept is stupid, and I really have to wonder just how much retailers get out of it any more.

PeggyC said:
The thing is, the Internet has made Black Friday as a physical event pretty much unnecessary. Except for the stores where the sales are insane to the point where people line up all night and trample each other. And THAT should be outlawed. The whole concept is stupid, and I really have to wonder just how much retailers get out of it any more.

I disliked it before they started opening earlier and earlier and backing it up into Thursday. And it's just gotten worse. (And SO unnecessary ... really!)

Love what REI is doing!

But is it hypocritical to not be so disturbed about online shopping on holidays (where presumably people have to work on the holiday to support those "back offices")? Someone called me out on Facebook about that and I didn't really have a good answer.

I HAVE observed that B&H, which observes the Jewish Sabbath, doesn't process online orders on Friday evenings and Saturdays.

That's a good question... And I don't have an answer. I don't know how those back-end systems work. Most likely it varies from company to company, but I don't know.

I wouldn't worry too much about lots of people processing your online orders on a holiday. First of all, they are retail....you have to expect that they are going to do an online business at all times (yes, I know B&H is an exception, but that is what they've chosen to do). Second, online order processing doesn't really require people pushing buttons....yes, there are likely customer service people working, but it's not something that has to be "staffed" heavily.

Just for information's sake to an interested audience, a follow-up: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/business/expecting-warm-embrace-rei-chief-is-harangued-in-reddit-forum.html

TigerLilly said:
I wouldn't worry too much about lots of people processing your online orders on a holiday. First of all, they are retail....you have to expect that they are going to do an online business at all times (yes, I know B&H is an exception, but that is what they've chosen to do). Second, online order processing doesn't really require people pushing buttons....yes, there are likely customer service people working, but it's not something that has to be "staffed" heavily.

It's probable that back end operations for a big company like REI are handled by global staff who are not observing Thanksgiving and Black Friday.