Best Buy Co. is preparing to ride the age wave.
The Richfield-based company said Wednesday that it will spend $800 million to purchase GreatCall, one of the nation's largest providers of communications technology aimed at helping older adults live independently and more safely in their homes.
Based in San Diego, GreatCall now has 900,000 subscribers for its service, which uses mobile technology and easy-to-handle devices to connect older adults with family members or with trained call center operators who can answer questions or call emergency personnel if necessary.
It is the first acquisition for Best Buy since Hubert Joly became CEO in 2012 and moves the company squarely into the aging and health services space.
"At a time when there's still so much energy around wooing new generations of shoppers — millennials and Generation Zs — Best Buy is focusing on the other side of the spectrum," said Carol Spieckerman, a national retail consultant and strategist. "They are single-handedly expanding the definition of consumer electronics."
Technology holds promise to help rising numbers of aging Americans remain in their homes and stay in touch with health care providers as well as friends or family members who don't always live nearby.
The market for aging services is massive and growing and will continue to expand in the decades ahead. By 2030, about 20 percent of the nation's adults will be 65.
A Best Buy spokesman said Joly and other officials would not be available to comment. In a statement, Joly acknowledged the role technology can play in supporting an aging population and family caregivers.