It was a challenging year. But through it all, we saw so much good in the world, even just in our little Best Buy corner of it.
Employees
Several Best Buy employees are seeking local office as a way to serve their communities.
After Abdallah Moukhtar died last September, his family needed to figure out what to do with his collection of Funko Pops! — all 1,100 of them.
Kelvin Tolston lives every day like it could be his last because one day it almost was.
He was hit by a drunk driver 10 years ago, and the wreck almost cost him his life. He was put in a medically induced coma and lost sight in his right eye.
For Kelvin, every moment matters — and the Geek Squad manager brings that philosophy to how he treats customers, too.
“I’ve been through times I needed people to do stuff for me I couldn’t do for myself,” he said.
Kevin Arlinghaus was at home watching television when he smelled smoke.
“It didn’t smell like a barbecue. It smelled like burning plastic,” he said.
Kevin — who works for Best Buy subsidiary GreatCall — went outside to investigate and soon discovered a fire in a nearby garage at his townhome community in Carlsbad, California. Within minutes, the garage was fully engulfed in flames.
Kevin is now being hailed as a hero after calling 911 and helping save a 93-year-old woman and her adult grandson.
When Jacob Carroll took a seasonal job in asset protection right out of high school, he didn’t think he’d be at Best Buy 10 years later.
He’s worked in asset protection, warehouse roles, the home theater department, Geek Squad and as a market trainer, traveling to 27 states along the way. Now he’s back home in Monroe, Louisiana, working as an in-home design manager.
“I bleed blue. That’s for sure,” he said.
Through the years, Jacob has grown professionally — and he’s grown his family, too.
Jenn Bourque was so excited about the great deal she got on a new TV at BestBuy.com that she wasn’t even upset when it arrived with a shattered screen.
She simply drove to her local store in Lafayette, Louisiana, to exchange it. And while she was there, she decided to upgrade to a nicer model.
One problem: She didn’t have her wallet, and she was $7.82 short on cash.
“I’ve got it,” the store associate, Kentrell Balthazar, said to her surprise.
They say love is patient. And in the case of Tonya and Tharun Trammel, it waited quietly on the sidelines for over a decade.
For 15 years, Tonya and Tharun worked side by side as co-workers at the Best Buy store in Independence, Missouri. They didn’t chat much until the death of a mutual friend started to draw them together in 2012. In the years that followed, each went through a divorce.
“We both struggled through a dark period of our lives, but instead of grieving alone, we chose to find comfort in one another,” Tharun said.
Increasing Starting Hourly Wage to $15 on Aug. 2
Quarter-to-Date Sales Up Approximately 2.5% Compared to Last Year
Sales Up Approximately 15% Compared to Last Year Since Stores
Re-opened for Customer Shopping
MINNEAPOLIS, July 21, 2020 — Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) today announced updates related to employee pay evolution and Q2 FY21 quarter-to-date sales performance.
Employee Pay Evolution
The company is raising the starting hourly wage for all Domestic employees to $15 effective Aug. 2.
“Strong consumer demand, combined with shopping experiences that emphasize safety and convenience, has helped produce our sales results to date,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said.
Mother’s Day might look a little different this year because of social distancing.
Despite the fact that many of us can’t be together, Best Buy employees celebrate moms everywhere via video.
We’re sending virtual hugs and thank yous to all the moms, grandmas, aunts and other special people in our lives. Happy Mother’s Day!
Back in 2007, Melissa Freidus was bothered by how quickly trash cans around her Best Buy store in Gainesville, Georgia, were filling up with soda bottles.
One day, the solution to her garbage woes walked right through the store’s front door: a man wearing a City of Gainesville sanitation jacket.
Melissa told him she was interested in recycling and asked if he knew how she could get started. She found the right person, he told her, because he was the superintendent of solid waste for the city.
The situation we’re facing as a company and as individuals is unprecedented and changing at a pace all of us are working to keep up with. We are making the best decisions we can with two goals in mind: protecting employees, customers and their respective families, while trying our best to serve the millions of Americans who rely on us for increasingly vital technology that keeps them connected to their school and work, and for the appliances necessary to help them store and prepare food.