JB Hi-Fi is an Australian and New Zealand retailer of consumer goods, specialising in video games, Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs, electronics/hardware and electrical home appliances.
It is one of the fastest growing and most successful businesses of its kind. In Australia, JB Hi-Fi's main competitors are Harvey Norman, as well as Myer, David Jones and Target Australia; in New Zealand, Harvey Norman and Noel Leeming.
The company (which is publicly listed on the ASX) has its Head Office at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne. There are 112 stores alone combining VIC, NSW, ACT & TAS (South-East Australia).
History
JB Hi-Fi was established in the Melbourne suburb of Keilor East by John Barbuto in 1974. Barbuto sold the business in 1983 to Richard Bouris, David Rodd, & Peter Caserta, who expanded JB Hi-Fi into a chain of ten stores in Melbourne and Sydney turning over $150 million by 2000, when they sold the majority of their holding to private equity. It was subsequently floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in October 2003.
At first, the company specialised in Hi-Fi equipment. As the mainstream popularity of vinyl records declined, in 1991 JB Hi-Fi cleared out their entire stock of records and began offering exclusively CDs, and were one of the first Australian music retailers to do so. (However, due to the recent revival of vinyl records larger stores began to stock them again.) This allowed JB Hi-Fi to open many new stores in Melbourne and later expand to other states. The chain now has stores all around Australia and in New Zealand's largest cities.
Recently, while many music stores claim to have been losing money, JB Hi-Fi has increased profits by 26% FY10 when compared to 2008/2009. JB also specialises in imported CDs, mainly from the United Kingdom and the United States, although CDs from other places, such as Africa, Asia and South America are available on special order.
JB Hi-Fi has diversified its business from predominantly selling music CDs, and are now a major retailer for numerous consumer electronics including Plasma and LCD televisions, audio/visual, digital camera photography, portable audio, in-car entertainment, computer/video games, gaming consoles and accessories, white goods (fridges and freezers) and DVD & Blu-ray movies, gadgets and information technology. As of 2012, JB HiFi has diversified into other accessories at certain stores, such as CB Radios, IP and fixed surveillance camera systems, musical instruments such as guitars, electronic keyboards, Ukuleles and guitars, and professional DJ equipment such as CD mixers, microphones and portable DJ P/A docking systems.
JB Hi-Fi is also the sole retail chain in Australia that sells Dell Computer hardware in retail stores.
In June 2007 that JB Hi-Fi was Australia's biggest CD retailer and is second in terms of sales of computer games, televisions and car stereos.
As of 7 June 2016, the company has 184 stores operating across Australia (ACT 5, NSW 54, NT 2, QLD 36, SA 9, TAS 3, VIC 54 and WA 21). and 15 stores operating in New Zealand.
Acquisitions
In July 2004, JB Hi-Fi bought 70% of the Clive Anthonys chain in Queensland.
On 13 December 2006, JB Hi-Fi acquired the Hill and Stewart chain of 11 electronics stores selling and operating in New Zealand for NZ$17.5 million (A$15.3 million).
In June 2007, JB Hi-Fi expanded its foothold in the Australian market by opening a Sydney branch of Clive Anthonys at the Home Hub in the suburb of Castle Hill (formerly Supa Centre and The Hills Homemaker Centre). This departed from the market in which they had already established a strong presence, as Clive Anthonys specialise in white goods.
In February 2010, JB Hi-Fi ceased to renew leases on Hill and Stewart stores in New Zealand and liquidated the business, citing management's wish to build the JB Hi-Fi brand in New Zealand.
In October 2016 JB Hi-Fi struck a deal which acquired The Good Guys warehouses within Australia making the JB-HiFi group the largest electronics retailer in Australia spread between the two brands.
References
External links
- JB Hi-Fi Australia
- JB Hi-Fi New Zealand
- Clive Anthonys
