Lifestyle

Matthew Alarcon knew he was going on a shopping spree last Friday, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. But the 17-year-old wasn’t expecting the red-carpet treatment when he arrived at a Best Buy store in Houston.

Employees from three Best Buy locations gathered to greet Matthew and his family as they arrived by limousine to the Best Buy store located within The Galleria shopping mall. The group of Blue Shirts (some posing as “paparazzi” and snapping photos) cheered as Matthew, his mom, dad and two younger brothers walked the red carpet and entered the store, where he got even more special treatment.

To give you an idea of how long Sarah Cassius has been working at Best Buy, just look at the retail value of the DVD player she won for having perfect attendance her first year: $400.

Sarah, who joined the company in November 1999, moved on from that seasonal media associate job in Gainesville, Florida, and has held many different leadership roles over the past two decades. She’s currently part of the social media customer support team in the company’s Enterprise Customer Care department.

At Best Buy, we’ve always known that our people are our most valuable asset. And in 2019, we received countless reminders of why that’s true.

Throughout the year, employees from all corners of the company inspired us with their passion, warmed our hearts by going the extra mile, and moved us to tears with their acts of kindness.

There are more examples than we can count, but here are a some of our favorite stories from the last 12 months.

Just what the doctor ordered

When a 3-year-old’s favorite toy dinosaur broke, his mom visited a Best Buy store in Florida to buy a replacement.

There’s a man called Uncle Nate who comes in every Tuesday, always looking to upgrade, always curious about the next big thing. 

There’s a woman named Ms. Leslie who keeps coming back with questions about her iPad, wondering how she can make the most of all its capabilities. 

They’re two of the regular customers who visit the Best Buy store in Frisco, Texas, specifically wanting to work with computing supervisor Kenneth Henry.  

“Kenneth is comfortable in most areas of the store, and his confidence in his knowledge makes the customer confident,” said General Manager Richard Fennell.

Matt Ville joined LinkedIn a couple of years ago when he was job hunting. Now he’s being recognized as one of the most engaging users on the site.

LinkedIn recently named Matt — an asset protection specialist at our Best Buy store in Coral Springs, Florida — to its 2019 list of the Top Voices in retail. He has used the platform to post motivational messages, interact with Best Buy leaders and show off his vast sneaker collection.

We chatted with Matt to learn more about him and his journey to becoming one of the Top Voices on LinkedIn.

In many ways, Jackson Tuneberg’s first Thanksgiving night shift as a Blue Shirt was exactly like you’d expect.

“It was crazy!” he said. “And hectic, and amazing and fun.”

What Jackson didn’t expect was having his mom, Heidi, as a co-worker for the night at his Minnesota store.

Best Buy has a Holiday Helper program that lets corporate employees like Heidi, a senior director in creative services, volunteer in stores during the busy season. “When I told Jackson that I got approval to work at his store, he asked, ‘Can I be your boss for the night?’”

John David Flores of McAllen, Texas, loves all things photography.

He enjoys capturing flowers, landscapes and people, and he visits his nearby Best Buy store for its monthly photography workshops. In fact, store employees can’t recall him missing a session.

Those employees see John David as more than a customer. They see him as a friend.

“He brings a smile to your face,” Geek Squad Agent Raul Flores said. “We’ve really gotten to know him. He’s inspiring.”

Raul and the store’s digital imaging experts knew that John David was using a camera from 2007 and has wanted to upgrade to a newer model for years.

Nina Safaei wishes someone had stood up for her when she was being bullied in high school. So, when she saw two boys being harassed by another passenger aboard a commuter train, she didn’t hesitate to step in.

Nina was riding the train in Vancouver, British Columbia, recently when she noticed a man becoming agitated toward two boys who were playfully enjoying their ride. Then, he pushed one of them.

“I was angry and sad and shaking when I saw it happening,” Nina recalls.