REI gives workers a Black Friday holiday
REI gives workers a Black Friday holiday
Get out.
That’s the message from outdoor retailer REI, whose CEO recently announced that the company’s 143 stores will be closed the day after Thanksgiving.
In a bold reversal of retail trends, REI is giving its 12,000 employees a paid holiday and even orders placed online won’t be processed until Saturday. It is encouraging employees and customers to enjoy outdoor activities on Black Friday, whether they need the hand warmers, hiking socks and other gear that REI sells or not.
It is a welcome change from the high-pressure sales tactics that encourage consumers to abandon family and leftovers and head for the mall — earlier and earlier with each passing year. Some retailers have resisted the push to open on Thanksgiving itself, but REI is the first national chain to shut down for Black Friday.
Nearly 90 million Americans went shopping last year on Black Friday, according to the National Retail Federation, and for some families shopping trips become an extension of the time they spend together over their turkey dinner. They’ll still have plenty of options, even with REI closed.
The chain’s decision may be a risky proposition or a smart strategy. Either way, in an era when Americans increasingly demand 24/7 convenience, it’s refreshing to see a company agree that even people who work in retail should be able to enjoy an occasional paid holiday.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Off the boil? Gallup shows the tea party may be losing steam
A new Gallup poll indicates that Americans’ support for the tea party has weakened, with the number of adults who say they back the ultra-conservative faction dropping to 17 percent, a new low.
While liberals and moderate Republicans may cheer the decline of a group of anti-deficit hardliners responsible for much of Washington’s gridlock during the past five years, they shouldn’t write the obituary just yet. Opposition to the tea party also declined in the last year, Gallup said.
The poll, released this week, showed tea party support below 25 percent for the first time since the movement emerged in 2009, fueled by grass-roots outrage over government spending and bailouts.
The group peaked the next year, registering 32 percent support when Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives and elected Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, now presidential candidates.
Over the next few years, the tea party’s favorable rankings fell to the mid-20s, yet it continued to wield power disproportionate to the group’s size. Its not-so-invisible hand played a role in the political demise of House Speaker John Boehner and his would-be successor, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy. And its favorites dominate the still-swollen Republican presidential field.
This is probably not, as one commentator asserted, evidence that the tea party has won and its hardline positions have become mainstream. It’s more likely that average Americans have become accustomed to the group, like background noise. Next year’s elections will tell.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette