As the holidays approach, Christmas shopping is a high priority, and the biggest shopping day of the year — Black Friday — is only 29 days away. In the frenzy to take advantage of sales, Black Friday has actually bled over into Thanksgiving Day, as more and more retailers attempt to get ahead of the shopping game, opening earlier than the competition.

Top management of many companies nationwide have refused to bow to the cash-infused pressure of opening on Thanksgiving Day, instead opting to give their employees the day off to spend with family and friends.

Now, one company is taking it a bit further.

On the biggest shopping day of the year, REI, the Seattle-based recreation and sports giant, is keeping the doors of its 143 stores closed. And the company will be paying its 12,000 employees to take the day off, get outside and go play a little bit.

Here’s the statement from REI’s CEO Jerry Stritzke: “For 76 years, our co-op has been dedicated to one thing and one thing only: a life outdoors. We believe that being outside makes our lives better. 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.”

REI will lose a lot of money on Black Friday — that’s a given. People want the convenience of shopping when they want to shop, and for the last two decades, the day after Thanksgiving has been set aside as that day. It’s a move that some might perceive Christmas commercial suicide.

However, for every person who loves to shop on Black Friday/Thanksgiving Day, there are just as many, if not more, who abhor that a holiday meant to celebrate life’s bounty amidst family and friends has been taken over by commercialism. Those people make a point of not shopping on Black Friday/Thanksgiving Day, and when a retail store, for which the sole purpose is to make money, chooses its employees over profit, it makes a statement.

It’s a statement that wins people over and inspires appreciation, which could inspire customer loyalty, which is always equated to customer dollars.

It’s also a canny business move.

More important, however, it’s good advice: take the lead of a leader in outdoor play and opt to play outside with family, with friends on Black Friday.