I absolutely adore the fact that REI is closing their doors for this year's Black Friday. I am not even entirely sure why Black Friday became a "thing" in the first place. The concept in itself is horrific. We spend all day Thursday giving thanks for what we have and how fortunate we are, and then the next day, and lately, Thursday night, we go out and literally fight people for things we do NOT need. It's insane. We literally go from gratefulness to selfishness and greediness within hours/minutes/seconds. Anyways, as I said, I love the fact that REI will remain closed on Black Friday. I think it sends out a good message to their customers, and it should be something the public appreciates and finds inspirational. And what's more, REI will pay their 12,000 employees to not partake in the Black Friday craziness. This is something that other companies should model-- instead of competing to see which store can open earlier on Thursday night. Black Friday pollutes the idea of Thanksgiving, it should be abolished, it shouldn't continue to take over this respectable holiday. While I do understand that it brings in a lot of revenue for these businesses, by following suit and closing their doors on Black Friday, they will gain respect and loyalty from their customers. Hopefully in the near future Black Friday will be abolished, and I think this notion is starting to take off. The more the public starts to express their anger and disgust with Black Friday and the more businesses announce they're shutting their doors, the closer we'll be to saying "Bye. And don't let the stampede of shoppers run you over on the way out" to Black Friday. Public opinion is extremely powerful, and the more people start publicly expressing their opinions about Black Friday, the more people will feel comfortable sharing their opinions publicly as well, and the idea will take flight. I'm totally on board with this notion, and I think other companies will start to be as well, especially after this year, seeing it modeled by REI. What will be the icing on the cake is if these other companies witness REI bringing in more revenue and support in the long run due to their decision to shut their doors. Positive changes take time to produce visible results, and while being open on Black Friday brings in a lot a lot a lot of money and customers, it's negative and only produces immediate results/gratification, which is not very noble. Check out this video about Black Friday, marketing, "door busters", and violence (start at 4:07)
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Bailee KussrowI have many thoughts. I have many passions. Archives
June 2017
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