December 11, 2020 – Best Buy is a true American business success story. Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler founded Sound of Music, an audio specialty store, in 1966, Schulze — who served as the CEO until 2002 —financed the opening of their 1st store from his personal savings and a 2nd mortgage on his home. The company was renamed Best Buy Company, Inc. in 1983, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1987, and according to Yahoo Finance, has grown into the largest specialty retailer in the United States consumer electronics retail industry with over 1,000 large-format stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
A provider of technology products, services and solutions, the company “aims to positively impact the world, enrich people’s lives through technology and contribute to the common good … demonstrated through our commitment to communities, people and the environment.” Fortune named Best Buy on its “World’s Most Admired Companies” list (No. 1 in Specialty Retail). In addition, it has made the Dow Jones Sustainability Index — which identifies Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance leaders — for the 10th consecutive year and is only one of 5 U.S. retailers included on this year’s index. Best Buy’s accolades also include recognition from Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal.
Here’s a couple things you may not know.
- Best Buy’s recycling program collects 409 pounds of electronics each minute the stores are open.
- Best Buy produces products under 8 house brands.
- The company has set financial targets for fiscal 2025 of reaching $50 billion.
- Best Buy plans to reduce carbon emissions in its operations by 75% (over 2009 baseline) by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.
- It hopes to reduce carbon emissions for customers by 20% (over 2017 baseline), saving $5 billion in energy costs.
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