Best Buy CEO says growing gap in purchasing power between rich and poor ‘keeps me up at night’

“We’re seeing some dispersion between high-income and low-income people,” Cori-Barry said. luck The strongest women Tuesday Summit in Washington, D.C. “If I scaled it higher, this would probably be what keeps me up at night,” he said.

Barry, CEO since 2019, stated that nearly 60% of GDP depends on spending by the wealthiest segment of American society, which is double the percentage it was before the Covid pandemic. “This makes it seem like there is real flexibility in the overall market, which is a problem, because low-income consumers are really suffering,” she continued. These struggles include delinquent credit payments, difficulty dealing with inflation, and rising housing costs.

“The entire economy at any given time is very dependent on a small, narrow population. That’s not good for the long-term health of the economy,” said Barry, whose company had $43.5 billion in revenue last year.

Best Buy’s solution was to offer a wide assortment of affordable items, allowing consumers to continue shopping there. “How can we make sure we have something that meets your needs so that the answer isn’t no, I can’t afford anything?” Barry said.

Impact of tariffs

Naturally, purchasing this broader assortment has been made more difficult by the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on several countries since April. Since less than 10% of the world’s electronics are manufactured in the United States, Best Buy is particularly vulnerable among retailers to ongoing tariff wars. At the beginning of the year, about 55% of the goods Best Buy sold came from China, Barry said, and now that percentage is about 35%, with Mexico and the United States taking a larger share.

One thing Barry says she’s learned from the coronavirus crisis is to be honest with employees, now numbering 85,000, about the impact of such significant events beyond their control. Notably, executives must ensure that there is no constant state of alarm, while remaining vigilant and responsive to required changes in how the business is run.

“They can’t be worrying every day about the ups and downs of geopolitics,” Barry said. At the same time, executives must be transparent with the troops. “Our employees deserve to understand why we make the decisions we make, and we are incredibly transparent.”