On the way home from her doctor’s office after undergoing a medical procedure, Judy Cruse stopped in at the Best Buy store in Dublin, Ohio, to shop for a camera tripod.
Suddenly, she felt dizzy and weak. Associates guided her into a comfortable chair and summoned Asset Protection Specialist Don Klein for help.
“She was fanning herself and out of breath,” Don said. “Being in warehouse management in my past career and in sports my entire life, there were certain things I knew to watch for.”
Nasri Maktal was at a conference where she heard Best Buy CEO Corie Barry say she wanted to host a high school intern for the summer. So Nasri, a junior at the time, walked right up to Corie and offered to be her intern.
“Corie’s story was similar to mine in the sense that she didn’t have many opportunities, and she wanted to give opportunities to another young girl,” Nasri said.
And there have been opportunities aplenty. Corie’s goal for Nasri’s internship was to give her the broadest perspective on what corporate life could look like.
When Anne Riegel walks in for her shift at the Best Buy store in northeast Columbus, Ohio, she sports a crisp blue shirt and a friendly sidekick named Travis.
Wearing a custom name tag and uniform, Travis — a yellow Labrador retriever — operates as Anne’s emotional and mobility support dog. He also specializes in customer service.
“Our customers always want to pet him, and some people stop by regularly just to say hi,” Anne said.
A car accident in 2000 limited Anne’s mobility, and she sought the assistance of a four-legged friend.
You can work with people for years and not know much about them. Unless you’re like Katie Moran, a social butterfly who knows just about everyone at Best Buy’s Geek Squad City.
Katie, a Geek Squad Agent at the technology-repair facility in Kentucky, noticed that friend and colleague Agent Mike Beams was missing a lot of work.
“When it kept happening, I started asking him more questions about what’s going on,” Katie said.
She learned Mike was sick and getting sicker.
Avengers fans, assemble.
As a thank you to fans, and to celebrate the Blu-ray release of “Avengers: Endgame” on Aug. 13, Best Buy has joined forces with Marvel Studios to host select fan events in five cities across the United States.
The “We Love You 3,000 Tour” will be stopping at five Best Buy stores. Special guests from Marvel Studios — including appearances from Avengers directors Anthony and Joe Russo and Executive Producer Victoria Alonso — will be on hand in some of these cities.
Disability isn’t a word that scares Nathan Mayer. It motivates him.
Nathan, who has been in a wheelchair most of his life, was born with spinal muscular atrophy. It’s a disease that causes muscles to weaken and limits a person’s ability to move.
Doctors didn’t think he’d live past 2 years old. They were wrong.
Today, Nathan is a 21-year-old intern at Best Buy and a national star in power soccer, a sport for those who use power wheelchairs. He will represent the United States in an international power soccer tournament in Brazil in August.
A simple trip to the grocery store in 2017 with her 8-year old nephew inspired Nadvia Davis to write a children’s book.
Although her current role at Best Buy’s corporate office involves numbers and invoices, she has always had a passion for words and writing. The former journalism major and freelance writer continues to find ways to incorporate writing into her life.
“The freedom that writing gives you to create sentences, you can say a lot in a short sentence or you can describe yourself and your situations with words,” Nadvia said.
Cory Metrokotsas has worked at Best Buy for 17 years, but he also has a sweet side gig.
In his spare time, Cory — the general manager at our store in Vauxhall, New Jersey — lends a hand at his family’s ice cream shop in nearby Piscataway.
“I’m probably in there two or three times a week, not full shifts but just stopping by to see if there’s anything I can do to help,” he said. “My family jokes that I’m the taste tester.”
Aniket Valand landed in New York City in 2013 with only one word in his English vocabulary: hi.
As a 17-year-old immigrant from India, Aniket didn’t how to speak the language, but he did understand the notion of the American dream. Today, the Best Buy employee’s own dream came true as he raised his right hand at a naturalization ceremony in Oklahoma City — nearly six years to the day since he first stepped on American soil.
“When I was in India, I was dreaming about my future in the United States.
Sarah and Jake exchanged Best Buy stores, then they exchanged numbers and work information. A year later, they exchanged vows.
Jake Briolat launched his Best Buy career in 2010 in Lakeland, Florida, and several years later was promoted to a store in nearby Davenport.
Meanwhile, Sarah Gifford began her career at Best Buy in 2016 in Davenport, but was eventually promoted and relocated to Lakeland. Co-workers suggested she call Jake to learn more about Lakeland, the store he knew well.
That call, and multiple others that followed, quickly turned less into learning about the job and more into learning about each other.
Having a broken computer can be frustrating. Not having the words to explain it, can be maddening.
So, when Best Buy General Manager Jendie Getty noticed that deaf customers at her Decatur, Illinois, store were having a difficult time communicating their needs with employees, she was determined to make a change.
“I want to make sure my staff mirrors our community, and if we have these customers who can’t communicate anywhere comfortably, I wanted to be that place that they can come to and feel at home,” Jendie said.
This Father’s Day, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry reflects on her time growing up in small-town Minnesota with a dad who always told her, “You can do anything.”