Best Buy kicked off a 12-market promotion around its Sprint Cup race team called “Retailgate” last Sunday, hosting 70 local customers and 30 local employees at Michigan Int’l Speedway for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. It was the first of 12 hospitality programs it will run this year in support of its sponsorship of Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43 Ford. The event began at a local Best Buy store close to the track at 7:00am ET. Customers and employees spent an hour at the store, where they shopped and enjoyed exclusive pricing bundles. Then they were treated to breakfast. Once aboard two buses for the track, they were given a gift bag that includes a fanview scanner, grandstand seats for the race, Best Buy racing hats and $43 in gift cards in honor of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford. The group was able to walk pit road before the race. Afterward they were encouraged to upload pictures or thoughts on the day to Best Buy’s Facebook page, which entered them in a sweepstake to win a tablet. Best Buy Racing Senior Marketing Manager Paul Zindrick said the program allowed Best Buy to bring local customers and employees together and strengthen the connection between them, reinforcing how much the company and its employees value customers. Zindrick added, “Throughout the day, there was a lot of excitement. At the end of the day we had to go back to the store and tear down some of the props we put up and I ran into quite a few customers using their gift cards to shop. That was exactly what we hoped for.” Best Buy plans to do 11 more of the promotions this year in Sonoma, Kentucky, Bristol, Atlanta, Chicago, Dover, Charlotte, Kansas, Texas, Phoenix and Miami. The promotion was developed by Best Buy and GMR Marketing.
