Everlane’s Taking a Novel Approach to Black Friday (Not Doing It)

Among our comprehensive alphabetical list of sales this Black Friday, you might have noticed one missing in the “E” section. Everlane, the clothing startup known for its minimalist designs and user-friendly website, won’t be offering discounts on any of its items and all profits made on the day will go directly to the workers that manufacture the products in the company’s Los Angeles, Calif.-based factory.

This isn’t the first time the online only retailer, which is committed to "radical transparency,” has taken a drastically different approach to its competitors on the biggest shopping day of the year. In 2012 and 2013, the site was blacked out and last year all earnings were similarly donated.

“This is an opportunity to help people on Black Friday,” founder and CEO Michael Preysman said, according to Fast Company. “The other piece of it is just to reflect on what it means to be consuming and buying gifts for people when there are others in the world that can benefit from our help. This is our way of finding balance in those two things.”

The e-commerce venture hopes to raise $100,000 for its Black Friday Fund, which will benefit a new wellness program for its factory workers. Everlane’s hope is to provide on-site health care, free food (instead of serving meals, they’ll give out groceries because most employees pack their own lunches), and English classes.

REI is taking a similarly holistic approach by closing 143 of its co-ops and encouraging its community, customers included, to #OptOutside. “The companies that are opting out are getting publicity in different ways,” Traci Gregorski, vice president of marketing at research firm Market Track LLC, explained to The Wall Street Journal. “Most retailers recognize that there is a lot of business to be done on those days. While the sales numbers on Black Friday have gone down, you can’t afford to not be competitive those times.”

Preysman does recognize this, and that’s why Everlane’s strategy shifted from halting operations to remaining open in 2014. "It’s a way for us to be open and available for our customers while I think reinforcing the values that we stand for.“

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