Natalie Albers

Li Yuechang blog

27 Mar: Meet Someone Who Makes the Products We Love

While technology might not technically be an official basic human need (like food, clothing or shelter), it sure seems that we can’t live without it. We rely on our electronic devices because they enhance, organize and connect our lives.

But have you thought about where those devices come from? Or, more importantly, who makes them? The actual people who put all the technological doohickeys together?

Best Buy thinks about it – a lot. We consciously operate our business in a way that seeks to ensure the people who work in the factories that produce our products are safe and treated fairly.

Best Buy - data

21 Mar: Don’t Let Your Data Break the Bank on Vacation

The only thing worse than having to leave a glorious vacation is coming home to a gigantic wireless phone bill. All that social media posting, picture sharing and video chatting can add up to a pricey souvenir nobody wants.

People like Eddie Rojas, manager of the Best Buy Mobile store in the Dolphin Mall near Miami, have seen the faces of folks suffering from data overindulgence.

“Panicked parents are who we get,” he said. “Kids aren’t too worried about their data because a lot of times it’s mom and dad who pay the bill.

Best Buy - St. Jude

22 Feb: St. Jude, Best Buy Celebrate Fundraising Milestone

Best Buy on Wednesday was named the largest St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign donor for the 2016 holiday season. Through generous customer donations made in its stores and online over three months, the company raised more than $18.2 million to support the life-saving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

“It’s incredible to see the life in that hospital and see what St. Jude does every day,” said Paula Baker, Best Buy’s chief human resources officer and executive sponsor of the company’s Thanks and Giving campaign.

Best Buy - register

09 Jan: Unwrap a Drone? Register with the FAA Before You Fly

Drones were a hot holiday gift this year, and if you’re among the lucky ones who unwrapped one, here are a few things for you to know.

Flying a drone is as fun as it is challenging. You’ll learn to maneuver around obstacles like trees and rooftops, and you’ll practice navigating wind and greasing landings. Best Buy has a great Drone Buying Guide that can help you ensure you get all you can out of your drone-flying experience.

But before you take to the skies, you may also need to register with the FAA – a federal requirement, even for recreational use – and it’s super easy.

Best Buy - cancer

23 Dec: St. Jude Surgeon Continues Brother’s Cancer Fight

It was Christmas 2009 when Mike Gleason received a diagnosis that shattered his world and that of his family: He had glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor with a bleak prognosis. He also had a wife and two sons, ages 6 months and 2 years.

Mike, a longtime Best Buy employee, worked in the Demand Planning department at the corporate office. His role was to stay on top of technology and forecast the latest products customers would want. What he couldn’t have predicted was that diagnosis – or how he’d lose his hard-fought battle with cancer just seven months later, at age 32.

Best Buy - surprise

08 Dec: Keep the Element of Surprise With These Gift-Giving Tips

Ahhhhhhh. There’s nothing like that sigh of relief when you’ve found the perfect holiday gift. (Nailed it!) But if your next thought is, “How the heck am I going to keep this a surprise???” I’ve got some handy tips for you.

With three curious kids, I have to stay ahead of their prying eyes. Here are my favorite tricks for being sneaky, all for the sake of those huge holiday smiles.

Go incognito

  • When ordering online, use an email address that isn’t shared with anyone you’re buying for and be sure this email account isn’t synced across shared devices!
Best Buy - thanks

31 Oct: Best Buy Kicks off 2016 St. Jude Thanks and Giving® Campaign in Stores, Online

Riding bikes. Playing with dolls. Throwing the ball around. These are the things childhood should be made of.

Unfortunately, not every little one experiences those simple joys every day. For too many, childhood is interrupted by a life-threatening disease that instead has them undergoing surgeries, getting chemotherapy and waiting for results.

No child should have to live like this. That’s why St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® is there for these kids. St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Best Buy - Geek Squad - modem

14 Sep: A Morning on the Job With Geek Squad and a Modem

The year is 2007. I’m hitching a ride in a Geek Squad home theater install van and we’re going fishing.

For wires, that is.

We’re fishing up, down and behind walls in the process of installing speakers at a client’s home. Spools of speaker wire slowly turn as the Agents painstakingly make his home theater system come to life by connecting the TV, receiver, speakers, gaming components and DVD player.

Jump to last week, and my experience tagging along with a Geek Squad Agent in 2016 was as different as the music on the radio.

Best Buy 50th

22 Aug: It’s Our 50th, and in Minnesota, ‘Best Buy Day’

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has designated today, Aug. 22, 2016, as “Best Buy Company Recognition Day” in honor of our 50th anniversary and contributions to the state.

Best Buy was founded as Sound of Music in the capital city of St. Paul in 1966, and has expanded to become the No. 1 retailer of technology products, services and solutions. In five decades of existence, we have employed more than 1 million people and given more than $50 million to Minnesota nonprofit organizations.

Best Buy-parenting

03 May: The One Thing Saving This Mom’s Sanity? Technology

Parenting books? Yoga? Coffee and a cozy blanket? They all sound great, but they’re not how I, as a mom of three, keep it together while trying to keep it all together.

In the marathon-and-sprint circuit of parenting, technology is the one thing saving my sanity amid a calendar packed with work, school, sports, volunteering, friend time and family time.

Hear me out. I know I’m blogging for a technology retailer, but I’m also a real mom with real stuff to juggle.

Best Buy ENERGY STAR

29 Mar: ENERGY STAR® Honors Best Buy Again, and Here’s Why

Best Buy Blue Shirt Jose Florentino is an expert at finding ways to help our customers use new appliances to save money and energy. He is one of the many reasons why this week we were named an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year for the third time and earned the distinction of Sustained Excellence by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

An appliance expert at our Millenia Mall store in Orlando, Fla., Jose is a problem solver. When customers come in to look at products, he quizzes them about what they need and want.

Best Buy smartphone

16 Mar: Shenanigans Sink Your Smartphone? Here Are Tips For Drying It Out

If you find your festive self in a bit of mischief this St. Patrick’s Day and your smartphone ends up in a pint (or pitcher) of beer, worry not.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad Agents have seen all types of tech shenanigans, and they have some handy tips for drying out your liquid-logged device. Consider the advice below so you can get back to enjoying your green beer, taking your orange-bearded selfies and dancing to your favorite Celtic tunes.

So if your gadget took a swim.