Abt Electronics is an independent retailer in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 of consumer electronics

Consumer electronics

Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...

, major appliances and furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

. Abt operates at a single location in Glenview, Illinois

Glenview, Cook County, Illinois

Glenview is a suburban village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 41,847...

, on 37 acres (149,733.8 m²) of land, and (since 1997) through an online retail website. The store is a family-owned business that has operated in the Chicago market since 1936.

History

Abt Electronics began in 1936 when Jewel Abt gave $800 to her husband David to start a business. The firm was originally named Abt Radio because it only sold small electronics in its early days. The original location was a small storefront and service department in the Logan Square

Logan Square, Chicago

Logan Square is one of the 77 city-designated community areas located on the near northwest side of the City of Chicago. The name, used here to describe the community area defined by U.S. census tracts, also applies to one of a number of smaller, more loosely defined residential neighborhoods...

 area of Chicago. Abt Electronics expanded over the years to employ 1100 employees on a 65000 square feet (6,038.7 m²) sales floor in Glenview

Glenview

Glenview as a place name may refer to:Republic of Ireland* Glenview, TallaghtNew Zealand* Glenview, New Zealand, a suburb of Hamilton, New ZealandUnited States* Glenview, California ** Glenview, Lake County, California...

, a suburb of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. By 1955, the store was strictly a showroom, with merchandise kept at a separate warehouse.

• 1936 – Jewel and Dave Abt opened Abt Radio with $800, located at 2835 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL. Abt Radio had a small service department. The store sold small electronics
• 1953 - Bob Abt (current Abt CEO) began working at Abt Radio part-time and over summers.
• 1955 - Moved to Logan Square Location at 2858 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Merchandise was kept off-site at the Hollander warehouse. One van made all the deliveries.
• 1962 - Bob Abt began working full-time at Abt Radio.
• 1971 - The Abt Family opened a store in Niles, Illinois
  Niles, Illinois
  Niles is a village in Maine and Niles Townships, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The 2010 population from the U.S. Census Bureau is 29,803.The current mayor of Niles is Robert M. Callero.-History:Niles was first settled in 1827....
  
   and kept both locations open for 6 years.
• 1975 - The Abt fleet grew from one van to four 16’ trucks.
• 1975 - Mike Abt began working part-time at Abt.
• 1977 - The Logan Square location closed.
• 1981 - Jon Abt began working part-time at Abt.
• 1985 - Fire at Abt, the only time that Abt was closed when it was scheduled to be open.
• 1985 - Billy Abt began working part-time at Abt.
• 1986 - Abt expanded the Niles location. Abt doubled in size from 12,000 to 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²).
• 1988 - Abt began hosting classes on product usage.
• 1988 - Abt.com was launched and Abt became an authorized on-line retailer for brands like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Bose, and Onkyo.
• 1989 - Mike Abt began working for Abt full-time.
• 1988 - The Niles store closed on December 9 at 9 p.m.
• 1990 - Abt’s fourth location, in Morton Grove, Illinois
  Morton Grove, Illinois
  Morton Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,451 at the 2000 census.The Village President of Morton Grove since April 27, 2009, is Daniel J...
  
  , opened for business at 9 a.m., December 10.
• 1990 - Recycling program begins.
• 1995 - Billy Abt began working at Abt full-time.
• 1997 - Abt completed an Addition to its Morton Grove doubling its size.
• 1998 - Jon Abt began working at Abt full-time.
• 2002 - May 26 Abt’s fifth location, in Glenview, Illinois
  Glenview, Illinois
  There are at least two locations in Illinois called Glenview:*Glenview, Cook County, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago*Glenview, St. Clair County, Illinois, an eastern suburb of St. Louis...
  
  , opened for business.
• 2005 - May 25, The City of Chicago dedicated the corner of Wolfram and Milwaukee Ave. to Jewel and David Abt. The new corner is called Jewel and David Abt Way.
• 2005 - Newsweek featured Abt in an article, “Abt- Beta-Testing Paradise.”
• 2007 - June through September Abt took part in the City of Chicago’s Cool Globes program, encouraging people to take action against Global Warming.
• 2007 - The Wall Street Journal featured Abt in an article, “A Way to Fight Big Rivals: Play Up Style and Service.”
• 2008 - Jewel and David Abt are inducted into the 2008 Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame.
• 2008 - March, the Wall Street Journal featured Abt in an article about Abt’s green initiatives.
• 2008 - In June Abt opens the Design Center
• 2008 - In Oct the 10000 square feet (929 m²) recycling center opens
• 2008 - Abt won the "Partners for Clean Air" award.

Environmental practices

In 2006 the company built a recycling

Recycling

Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

 center which collects the company's used cardboard, plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

 and plastic-foam packaging and prepares it to be sold for recycling. The recycling center processes 150 loads of Styrofoam

Styrofoam

Styrofoam is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for closed-cell currently made for thermal insulation and craft applications. In 1941, researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab found a way to make foamed polystyrene...

 and 200 loads of cardboard per week. Abt also recycles 20,000 wood pallets and plastic bags per week and is in the process of installing two small wind turbine

Small wind turbine

Small wind turbines are wind turbines which have lower energy output than large commercial wind turbines, such as those found in wind farms. These turbines may be as small as a fifty watt generator for boat, caravan, or miniature refrigeration unit. Small units often have direct drive generators,...

s and solar panels on the roof to help reduce energy costs at their store.
Abt finished installing the wind turbines and solar panels in late 2008.