REI garnered national attention when it announced that the doors to their 143 locations will be closed the day after Thanksgiving, otherwise known in the retail industry as Black Friday. The Seattle-based company announced to their 12,000 employees in an afternoon email on October 27th that Friday November 27th will be a paid holiday, and that they encourage their employees to spend the day outside rather than working.
Their website has a new page with a countdown, letter from the CEO regarding the decision, and several
opportunities for people to get involved by sharing the hashtag #OptOutside with images of where they will spend Black Friday outdoors in addition to an interactive map that allows users to locate hiking trails closest to their zip code.
REI will also remain closed on Thanksgiving day itself, alongside other retailers including Costco, Barnes and Noble, and Dillard’s.
Honored to see other brands like @ORGEAR, @ClifBar, @GregoryPacks standing with us to #OptOutside this Black Friday! pic.twitter.com/3GQdiecenK
— REI (@REI) October 29, 2015
The Horrors of Black Friday
In recent years, horrifying headlines recounting injuries and deaths that occurred at stores on Black Friday have shocked the nation. Lacey Halpern, Senior HR Business Partner, recalls some of her own personal experiences of working retail on Black Friday:
“Having worked in retail for several years in college during Black Friday, I can attest to the crowds and rush of the day. The season is busy and the shoppers are geared up and eager for a good deal. The store I worked at opened very early—we were required to arrive at the store at 4 a.m. and we did not close until 11p.m. This was about 10 years ago, and things have changed so much, with most stores opening on Thanksgiving afternoon and some staying open all night.”
With this extension of hours and larger than normal crowd sizes, stores may expose themselves to safety issues with employees working long hours and not getting their required rest and meal periods, crowd safety problems, and more.
“It was challenging to leave the store for breaks and lunches, as the crowds were so unpredictable and the various start times of new deals throughout the day, so it seemed that there was never a good time for anyone to take a break. This led to poor customer service, grumpy employees, and upset customers. We also risked the tired employees getting hurt. With product scattered on the floor, the store less clean than during normal business hours, and an influx of bodies in the store, it felt chaotic.”
The Strategy of #OptOutside
An August Oregonian article stated that “the year has been a positive one for Oregon’s job market. The state’s employment base has expanded by 55,900 jobs since July 2014, growing at a rate of 3.2 percent.” There are less people to fill the growing number of jobs available. The article concludes, “Another metric of the labor market’s health—the unemployment rate—has shown clear signs of improvement, falling by nearly half since the height of the recession. Despite increasing last month [July] to 5.9 percent, the measure is a percentage point lower than at the same point a year ago.”
With talent attraction and retention being top of mind for employers these days, finding creative and effective ways to attract and retain talent is critical for the success of growing businesses. Many companies are strategizing ways to be an ‘employer of choice’ that is sought out by prospective employees and that your current ones never want to leave.
Achieving this brand status is truly a marketing objective that relies heavily on what their employees have to say about their work environment—which is hugely influenced by the company’s internal HR efforts.
So why are we gushing over REI’s campaign as a prime example of an ‘employer of choice’ branding strategy?
Honestly, the old adage of ‘what goes around comes around’ is what’s happening here. Being good to your people—not only customers, but your employees—will not be ignored or forgotten. Your employees will talk. They are your unintentional and totally candid marketers, which can be to your advantage or disadvantage depending on how you hold them.
Instead of simply saying, “We’ll be closed! Happy holidays!” REI announced their closure by tying it to one of their core values as a company, which made the message so much more impactful—a perfect application of Simon Sinek’s Start With Why model.
The campaign is a brilliant trifecta of ingredients that accomplishes the ‘employer of choice’ brand strategy:
- It’s something good and positive and kind in addition to being so thoroughly unusual to the typical greed-greed-greed press Black Friday represents to most—and thus also attention grabbing, in addition to the fact that many retailers do not offer paid holidays to their hourly store employees;
- It connects with their brand and business structure (REI is a cooperative company); and
- It connects with their products and value proposition to the market
However, some remain more skeptical of the motivations behind the campaign. A recent TIME magazine article explored REI’s and others’ campaigns around closing or remaining open on Thanksgiving or Black Friday:
“In most cases, the decision to open or close on Thanksgiving (or Black Friday) is based on business strategy in addition to doing the ‘right thing.’ By staying closed on Thanksgiving, stores will naturally endear themselves to shoppers who think it’s awful that any stores are open that day. By staying closed on Black Friday and encouraging folks to go hiking, skiing, or biking, REI will naturally endear itself (more) to people who love the outdoors—and who probably weren’t going to be elbowing the crowds in the mall on Black Friday anyway.
Above all, there’s something seriously disingenuous about presenting the decision to close as purely a matter of ethics and doing right by employees when money and brand
marketing factor in heavily as well.”
The $ Motivator
A brilliant aspect of REI’s #OptOutside campaign was the built-in need to notify employees and customers
alike of the closure of stores on that day, so the announcement doesn’t come off as a “Look at us!” type of notice, and they did so via an email to their customers and employees. However, despite the longer lasting, gradual impact a positive brand can have, REI’s annual income for 2015 is likely to take a hit from this decision.
For most businesses, particularly retailers, Black Friday is their most profitable day of the year. By closing their doors while still paying employees for work that isn’t getting done, REI not only experiences loss of money spent that day by customers but also the expenses of employee wages. REI employs 12,000 employees. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25. If we assume 8 hours of work for Black Friday, we are looking at a gross “loss” of $696,000—a significant one that is likely underestimated and doesn’t account for product sales lost to other retailers.
The financial loss is undeniable, but perspective is reality, right? REI views this as an investment in employee and customer satisfaction—and employee retention, which is invaluable in the 2015 talent market.