Best Buy relaxes dress code to allow store employees to wear jeans

The jeans-ification of retail workers is becoming a thing.

Richfield-based Best Buy is the latest retailer to relax its dress code to allow its blue-shirted store employees to wear blue or black jeans. They also no longer have to tuck in their shirts and can wear any color shoe (as long as they're not flip-flops or sandals) instead of having to wear only black shoes.

The change was announced Wednesday at the company's annual holiday leadership meeting in Las Vegas. Word quickly began spreading from there to store employees.

In the last year and half, Minneapolis-based Target and Walmart, among the largest employers in the U.S., have made similar changes.

Earlier this year, Target began allowing store workers to wear jeans in addition to khaki pants, which have long been part of its uniform. Red shirts are still required.

Walmart loosened its dress code in May 2018, allowing workers in its 4,700 stores in the U.S. to wear any color shirt and any color denim. Blue shirts and khakis were its previous uniform. But employees still have to wear a blue vest and name badge so shoppers recognize them as store workers.

Companies have begun relaxing their dress codes amid a tight labor market to help recruit and retain employees. Retailers also see it as a way to help improve employee morale — and in the process to improve customer service.

For Best Buy, this was the first major change to its dress code since it switched from khakis to black pants and skirts six years ago. Blue shirts have been part of its uniform since 1989.

Kavita Kumar • 612-673-4113