Black Friday: REI closes 143 of its stores and pays employees to go outside instead

Black Friday is on November 27

This Black Friday, REI’s 11,000 employees won’t have to work at all – in fact they will get paid for going outside instead (REI)

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in the US.

It falls the day after Thanksgiving on November 27, when millions of US shoppers descend on stores around the country hoping to save on their Christmas shopping.

It has typically meant crazily long hours for shop workers in the run up and on the day, dealing with customer scrums for cheap deals and long queues at the cashier.

But not if you work for the outdoor equipment firm Recreational Equipment Inc, or REI, which sells sporting goods in more than 100 stores in the US.

This Black Friday, REI’s 11,000 employees won’t have to work at all – in fact they will get paid for going outside instead.

In a letter to employees, Jerry Stritzke, REI CEO, said that for 76 years, REI has been dedicated to a life outdoors, so it is using the biggest shopping day of the year to remind customers and staff of this. “While the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we’ll be spending our day a little differently. We’re choosing to opt outside, and want you to come with us,” Mr Stritzke wrote.

So far 230,279 people have signed up to REI’s #optoutside campaign.