 REI, the Seattle-based outdoor recreation and sporting goods giant, announced today that it is going to close for Black Friday (you read that right) and pay its 12,000 employees to go out and play. In an unprecedented move for the modern-day holiday shopping season, REI's 143 stores will be closed the day after Thanksgiving. "Any retailer that hears this will be startled by the idea," says REI President and CEO Jerry Stritzke, who admits he was apprehensive about closing at first. We’re a different kind of company—and while the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we’ll be spending our day a little differently. "You need people to go to the mountain, you need people to catch that outdoor bug," Stritzke said. The weekend of Thanksgiving has become an increasingly competitive game of one-upmanship as retailers move store openings earlier each year. But this year, REI's 12,000 full and part-time workers will not only have Thanksgiving Day off, they will have Black Friday off with pay. "Thus, we can do something like close our doors on Black Friday, and we'll have the membership that'll think that's cool." REI's campaign was built with its employees and customers in mind — the company operates as a co-op, with roughly 5.5 million members who pay a one-time fee for a share of the business. But it’s also a member-owned cooperative (REI's more than 5 million members pay a one-time fee and contribute some 80% of its sales). About 20% of REI's sales are made on its website, but the retailer won't try to lure online shoppers on Black Friday either. The holiday shopping season is the biggest, and most competitive, time of year for retailers, with Black Friday at the center of the hoopla. (Color its move highly expensive: REI says it will be closing each of their 143 stores on this high-volume sales day and, as they put it, "paying our employees to head outside.”) 
 
 REI is one of the most powerful forces in outdoor retailing, with over $2 billion in sales in 2014. As such, according to President and CEO Jerry Stritzke, this new move aligns with REI's mission that "being outside makes our lives better.” 
 
 CEO Stritzke: "For 76 years, our co-op has been dedicated to one thing and one thing only: a life outdoors.
– Outdoor-goods chain REI has flabbergasted retail analysts with its bold Black Friday plan of not selling anything. CEO Jerry Stritzke says the day has "gotten out of hand" and all 143 REI stores will remain closed the day after Thanksgiving, CNNMoney reports. The chain is paying all 12,000 workers for the day and is encouraging them—and its customers—to enjoy the great outdoors on Black Friday and share their experiences with the #OptOutside tag. The chain will not be processing online orders until Saturday, reports USA Today, which notes that REI is a co-op owned by its 5.5 million members, so although staying closed is certain to cost it money, it won't have to justify the move to any outraged shareholders. "We believe that being outside makes our lives better," Stritzke said in a statement. "And Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of this essential truth. We're a different kind of company—and 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." The move is "wildly counterintuitive," but perhaps not as "commercially suicidal" as it may seem, writes Micah Solomon at Forbes. Modern consumers look for "authenticity" and "attached meaning," making REI's brand more attractive when it's seen to actually stand for something, he writes. (More stores have decided to stay closed on Thanksgiving.)