Over the past few weeks, a number of retailers have announced that they will be closed on Black Friday, one of the biggest retail sales days of the year. Reactions have varied from pundits and customers but the general sentiment seems to be positive and in favor of employees having time with their families. In some cases, there is also a touch of anti-consumerism and a healthy dose of cynicism as well.
Given how much revenue is at risk, these are high stakes games brands are playing. It will be interesting to see how consumers react this holiday season.
It’s been interesting to watch how brands have announced their closings:
REI
Watch CEO Jerry Stritzke explain why @REI is closing #BlackFriday & paying all employees: https://t.co/EL72mkBPlW https://t.co/lp6ercSTzc
— REI (@REI) October 27, 2015
GameStop
To give our customers & associates time to spend Thanksgiving with family & friends, our stores will be closed 11/26 http://t.co/J4oEkHpgHU
— GameStop (@GameStop) October 12, 2015
P.C. Richard & Son
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and even sleep in the next day! All our deals will be waiting for you all day from 5am-11pm on Friday. #blackfriday
— P.C. Richard and Son (@PCRichardandSon) November 21, 2011
Predictably, the press and media has jumped all over this story, spinning it up in a variety of ways:
AdWeek
REI will be closed on Black Friday, and pay its 12,000 employees not to work that day. https://t.co/0KI8ZW9Inb pic.twitter.com/bEhBWhwFdC
— Adweek (@Adweek) October 27, 2015
USA Today
REI is canceling #BlackFriday, urging folks to go outdoors rather than shop #OptOutside https://t.co/OfjyOYcVFy pic.twitter.com/48vYVlG5r5
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 26, 2015
CNN
.@REI is staying closed on Black Friday, says retail frenzy has gotten “out of hand” https://t.co/brl1tlYIm7 pic.twitter.com/BYXGHLVCQw
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) October 26, 2015
Others including employees and customers have also reacted favorably, posting often on Twitter about their favorite brands:
@GameStop, @halfpricebooks, @REI, @Staples: continue that movement! love that you guys are closed on #BlackFriday. love, a retail manager
— gabrielle / abby (@ellaellaHEY) October 27, 2015
Great job Staples! Proud to be your customer! Staples to customers: Stay away on Thanksgiving Day http://t.co/wKmzR0L9PS
— Jamie (@jljaina) October 11, 2015
So the CEO of gamestop says the stores will be closed on Thanksgiving night. Opening back up on black Friday. Good for employees.
— Wraith Arisen (@WraithArisen007) October 13, 2015
It will be interesting to see how this impacts sales and revenues. Are retailers taking a big financial risk by closing, or will the great PR drive brand loyalty? Time will tell.
At SpendBoss, we design and develop enterprise operations software for multi-location businesses. SpendBoss SaaS software provides back office operations-related solutions that drives cost savings on indirect supplies and services, and increased productivity and efficiency for store managers.