In a bold business move, camping superstore REI has announced that it will not open on Black Friday. Wait, not open? That’s the mythical Dia de La Dough, when shoppers abandon their families still sleepy with turkey, and roam rabid through the malls. If the packs of shoppers are large, then all winter, the nests of the elite are feathered with fat stacks of cash. If the shoppers stay in their dens, then the winter is long and cold indeed.
So imagine the upset when a bunch of earthy crunchy types decide to close on this most important of seasonal hold-days. While the trend for some time was more and more stores opening earlier and earlier–some on Thanksgiving itself–it seems the season is changing. The most rabid of shoppers may want to get to the hunt, but for most of us, having a chance to cozy up in the den is worth any killer deal.
I can remember when things really did close over the holidays. Gone were all the distractions of daily living and the streets were hushed. Days seemed long and wild. With all of the usual hustle and bustle on hold, my Mom and Dad had the time to tell stories at the dinner table, to play with us kids, to snore like crazy in from of the football game, to create culinary delights that required more time than weekdays held.
The magic of the season wasn’t in jingling store bells, but in heat crated out of love alone that time at home allowed us to create.
Thanks, REI, for bucking the tired trend and giving each of us a chance for the greatest gift of all.
Susan X Jane 
I, too, admire them for this important first step. I grew up in a time and place where absolutely no stores were open between 12 noon on Saturday and Monday morning. And it looks like we all survived….