Employees

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11 Dec: Bay Area Best Buy employees help homeless veterans during holidays

One day while driving to work at the Best Buy in Emeryville, California, Phil Bohol noticed a group of homeless people. Several appeared to be military veterans, still wearing parts of their service uniforms.

Phil served seven years in the U.S. Marines, and seeing other vets struggling broke his heart. So he enlisted six Best Buy co-workers who also served in the military to help raise money in a GoFundMe campaign to buy blankets, hygiene kits, sleeping bags and more for homeless veterans in the area.

Volunteers in Panama City

06 Dec: After hurricane, Panama City employees rally to help others

Tony Dandy has been living in temporary housing in Panama City Beach, Florida, for almost two months after his house was damaged by the winds and rain of Hurricane Michael. And he probably won’t be able to move home for a few more weeks.

But, despite his own hardship, the Best Buy supervisor has been volunteering several times a week to help others in the community. And dozens of employees from our Best Buy store in Panama City have joined him to assist with the recovery efforts.

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10 Nov: 3 Career Lessons A Best Buy VP Learned in the Military

As Best Buy’s vice president of supply chain, Mark Irvin helps the company move millions of tech products from our distribution centers to our stores and customers every year.

He has spent more than 25 years in corporate supply chain operations. But before that, Mark started his career in field medical logistics in the Army.

The Michigan native spent eight years in the military, starting in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) during college and rising to the rank of captain. He spent most of the time in the Medical Service Corps, where he helped get supplies where they needed to go.

Gael

02 Nov: Maryland employee has young customers dialed in

Any parent can tell you that shopping with kids in tow isn’t exactly relaxing. But one intuitive employee can make all the difference.

Just ask Abigail Rogers, a mom who was shopping for phones at the Best Buy store in Frederick, Maryland, with her two young daughters. She took to social media to recognize store associate Gael Alexis for “what could/should/would have been a dreadful and painful experience” that turned out “delightful” for everyone involved.

All because Gael knows her stuff when it comes to technology — and kids.

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15 Oct: Government leaders laud Best Buy for supporting employees after Hurricane Florence

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA — When Hurricane Florence hit the North Carolina coast on Sept. 13, our Best Buy stores in Wilmington and Morehead City sustained significant water damage. Both remain closed.

How Best Buy has responded since then — continuing to pay employees who are doing volunteer work in the community — has gotten the attention of lawmakers and officials in Washington, D.C., who recently requested a visit to learn more.

On Monday, a group of national and local government officials visited the Wilmington Best Buy store to meet with employees.

Seasonal employment

12 Oct: When seasonal employment turns into a career at Best Buy

Desiray Perez started as a seasonal worker at our Best Buy regional distribution center in Dinuba, California, when she was 18 years old. Now, she’s entering her seventh holiday season — her first as the facility’s inventory control coordinator.

She worked part-time at the center for about five years while going to school and caring for her young son. She’s been full-time for about a year now and was recently promoted to the coordinator role. Her goal is to become a manager.

Jacob Grace taekwondo

04 Oct: Taekwondo isn’t just for kicks for this Best Buy employee

Remember the name Jacob Grace. You might be hearing it a lot over the next few years.

Jacob is working on a dream of representing the U.S. in taekwondo — a dream that could become reality as soon as the 2020 Summer Games.

For now, though, he’s a home theater salesman at the Best Buy store in Medford, Oregon. He’s  saving up his money — and even has a Go Fund Me page — for training and airline tickets to competitions.

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07 Sep: At 76, Best Buy Associate Loves Spinning Stories and Delighting Customers

He’s repaired copy machines, installed sound systems in movie theaters and even cooked in the U.S. Air Force. But Donald Grabski’s current job is one of his all-time favorites.

At age 76, Don is a top salesman in the home theater department of the Best Buy store in north Sacramento. A lifelong fan of audio, he spends his days chatting with customers about cool sound systems while passing along experiences from a life that began nine days after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Best Buy interns

24 Aug: Interns reflect on a summer at Best Buy

With a new school year starting, Best Buy recently bid farewell to its largest, most diverse class of summer interns.

About 100 interns worked with teams across the organization, representing more than 35 colleges and over a dozen Best Buy stores.

Our program gives students insights into our business and culture. During the summer, interns had the opportunity to network with Best Buy executives and fellow interns, as well as volunteer within the community.

We sat down with three past interns to reflect on their experience with the program.

Andre Anthony Jr.

20 Aug: Andre sees himself in teens he helps in Oakland

Andre Anthony Jr. can spot potential the moment it enters the room.

Sometimes it’s hidden, but he knows what to look for: a younger version of himself who’s dealing with the same struggles he did.

Andre, an Oakland native and Best Buy employee, found a way past those challenges. Now he’s helping students do the same every week at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center in Oakland, California, where he volunteers his time to help at-risk youth in the local community.

motorsports

14 Aug: Best Buy employee driven by roar of the engine

Chris DeHarde loves motorsports. He’s been to every Indianapolis 500 since 1996 — when he was 7 years old — and writes about racing for various media outlets.

The problem was, he was living in his native New Orleans, working part time at Best Buy.

“I was talking to a couple friends and they said you need to move to Indianapolis if you want to pursue this full time,” Chris says. “So I went to a Best Buy in Noblesville, Indiana, and said, ‘I work at this Best Buy outside New Orleans, can we make this happen?’

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07 Aug: ‘Geek Squad heroes’ save Michigan man’s day

Sonny Guizzetti had seemingly tried everything but couldn’t figure out how to get his laptop or tablet to connect to FaceTime.

“I was getting so frustrated it was driving me crazy,” the Michigan man recalled.

So, he jumped in his car and drove to his local Best Buy store in Marquette, Michigan, to get some help from his friends at the Geek Squad.

Problem solved.

It wasn’t a quick fix, but Geek Squad Agent Eric Nelson was patient and stuck with it until he found a solution.