Teens' Designs To Hit Best Buy Store Shelves

(RTTNews) - Best Buy said it is partnering Popsockets to bring products designed by teens from the company's community programs to its store shelves.

The electronics retailer will sell the teen-designed PopGrips in its stores as part of its "Black History Month" campaign.

The campaign is intended to celebrate and encourage young artists, while highlighting the crucial need for opportunity and change in an industry where only three percent of designers are Black.

According to Best Buy, four up-and-coming artists from the company's Teen Tech Center network were paired with designers at PopSockets, who served as the teens' mentors throughout the process.

The students created their own PopGrips, which are small, round attachments that connect to the backs of phones and tablets. The PopGrips help users hold and prop up their devices.

The teens were commissioned and compensated through PopSockets' standard procedures for freelance designers.

Best Buy's Teen Tech Centers are afterschool learning sites where teens are provided with access to the latest technology, guided by mentors, and also given the opportunity to apply their skills through hands-on experiences like the PopSockets partnership.

Half of the sales from each teen design will be donated to the Best Buy Foundation and reinvested into the Teen Tech Centers, the company said.

In December, Best Buy had said it committed $44 million to diversity, inclusion and community efforts. The commitment includes building a network of at least 100 Best Buy Teen Tech Centers to provide teens with the tech skills and mentorship they require to succeed.

The commitment will also help to expand college prep and career opportunities for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) students as well as increase scholarship funding for youth at Best Buy Teen Tech Centers across the country.