Best Buy Offers Value and Guidance for Eager Holiday Shoppers

Best Buy (BBY):

WHAT: Best Buy BlueShirts are ready to help shoppers get the best advice and value this holiday season. Technology and entertainment play a central role in many holiday traditions. Best Buy offers the knowledge, selection and assurance to help customers get the most for their dollar.

More than 1,000 Best Buy stores across the country are staffed with BlueShirts that are passionate about meeting customer needs by providing non-commissioned, trusted guidance and advice to holiday shoppers. Employees are available to news media throughout the holidays, including on some of the most-anticipated shopping days of the year:

• Guns N’ Roses Release (Sunday, Nov. 23): Music fans will line up early at Best Buy to get their hands on Chinese Democracy. One of the most anticipated albums of all time, Chinese Democracy is Guns N’ Roses first album of new material since 1991.
• Black Friday (Friday, Nov. 28): Shopping Best Buy this day is a tradition for many families. Deal seekers often line up hours and days in advance to get a shot at hot doorbusters. Employees take pride in providing an organized, exciting experience by helping people waiting in line that morning with advice on shopping strategies and gift buying tips. The stores spend hundreds of hours preparing for the day, including full scale rehearsals.

WHERE/WHEN: Best Buy stores across the country. To check store hours and contact information, visit the store locater on www.bestbuy.com.

On Friday, Nov. 28, Best Buy stores will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time (hours may vary). Best Buy’s official Thanksgiving Day circular will be posted on www.BestBuy.com on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES:

• Get footage of customers waiting in line to shop. On Black Friday many stores offer coffee and donuts. Customers often set up tents and grills.
• Speak with customers in line about their shopping lists and holiday shopping traditions.
• Interview Best Buy BlueShirts about how they prepare for ‘the busiest shopping days of the year’ and what they do to make holiday shopping easier on their customers.

MANAGER APPROVAL NEWS MEDIA POLICY:

To facilitate reporters working on holiday stories, Best Buy implements a "manager-approval" news media policy for U.S. based newspaper, TV and radio reporters who want to visit U.S. Best Buy stores from Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008 through Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009. This means local reporters who want to talk to Best Buy BlueShirts or Geek Squad Technicians may work directly with store managers to secure approvals for shooting in-store interviews or footage for news stories about the holiday season, without requesting approval from the Best Buy corporate public relations department. Reporters must obtain approval from a store manager prior to shooting in a store. The decision to approve a request is up to the discretion of the individual manager. While we try to accommodate every request, please understand that our stores are extremely busy during the holiday season and our first priority is to serve our customers. For more specific information, send inquiries to 612-292-NEWS (6397) or newscenter@bestbuy.com.