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. “None of this would be possible without the effort and energy of our front-line employees working in stores, supply chain facilities and customers’ homes. Today’s announcement on pay reflects an ongoing evolution and investment in how we compensate them for their critical work and is the result of clear and consistent feedback from field employees across the country. In the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, we made a number of temporary decisions, including providing appreciation pay to hourly field employees, and we’re now pleased to evolve to a more structural approach that significantly invests in paying and supporting them in ways that they have asked for and so clearly earned.”

Since the early stages of the pandemic, all hourly retail associates and supply chain employees who were working received incremental hourly appreciation pay. The incremental appreciation pay started March 22 and ends Aug. 1.

Q2 FY21 Sales Update

At the beginning of Q2 FY21, the company started welcoming customers back into its stores by offering an in-store consultation service to customers, by appointment only. On June 15, Best Buy began allowing customers to shop without an appointment at more than 800 stores across the U.S. As of June 22, almost all of the company’s stores were open for shopping. The company has also continued to offer contactless curbside pickup and in-store consultations for those who prefer to shop that way. Throughout this entire time period and across all the ways customers can shop, the company has continued to adhere to safety protocols that limit capacity, follow strict social distancing practices and use proper protective equipment.

To read this article in full, please visit the Best Buy Corporate site.