JB Hi-Fi
Encyclopedia
JB Hi-Fi is an Australian CD
, DVD
, Blu-ray disc, video game and consumer electronics
chain store
.
suburb of Keilor East
by John Barbuto in 1974. Barbuto sold the business in 1983 to Richard Bouris and David Rodd 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 record
s 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, with the recent revival of vinyl records larger stores are stocking 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 some in Auckland
, New Zealand
's largest city and other parts of New Zealand.
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 Plasma
and LCD televisions, audio/visual, digital camera photography, portable audio, in-car entertainment, computer/video games, DVD movies, gadgets and information technology.
Currently JB Hi-Fi is the number 1 retailer of Apple Computer hardware in Australia, even more than Apple retail stores. JB Hi-Fi is also the sole store in Australia that sells Dell Computer hardware in retail stores.
The Sydney Morning Herald
reported in June 2007 that JB Hi-Fi is now Australia's biggest CD retailer and is second in terms of sales of computer games, televisions and car stereos.
In the full year 2009/10 report, it was reported that there are now 131 store locations in Australia and 10 in New Zealand.
As of 2011 the company has thirteen stores open in New Zealand
with eight in Auckland
and one store each in Wellington
, Hamilton
, Palmerston North
, Tauranga
and Dunedin
.
.
On 13 December 2006, JB Hi-Fi acquired the Hill and Stewart
chain of 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 Castle Hill (formerly Supa Centre and The Hills Homemaker Centre) which departed from the market that they had already established a strong presence, in that they specialise in whitegoods.
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 pursue the JB Hi-Fi market in New Zealand.
ruled that a JB Hi-Fi branch in Newcastle, New South Wales
, had engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of the Trade Practices Act, by selling two second-hand mobile phones to a customer who had been led to believe they were new.
In July 2009, JB Hi-Fi had mistakenly advertised on their website a Samsung
flatscreen TV for $15 instead of 15 percent off, or $2,600. One hundred and five individual customers who thought they were buying the TV for $15 had been told the deal was not valid. Instead they were being offered the TV $1000 off the price, or a discount of 29 percent.
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Blu-ray disc, video game and 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...
chain store
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
.
History
JB Hi-Fi was established in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Keilor East
Keilor East, Victoria
Keilor East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Brimbank and Moonee Valley...
by John Barbuto in 1974. Barbuto sold the business in 1983 to Richard Bouris and David Rodd who expanded JB Hi-Fi into a chain of ten stores in Melbourne and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
turning over $150 million by 2000, when they sold the majority of their holding to private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
. It was subsequently floated on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
in October 2003.
At first, the company specialised in Hi-Fi equipment. As the mainstream popularity of vinyl record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s 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, with the recent revival of vinyl records larger stores are stocking 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
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and some in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's largest city and other parts of New Zealand.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 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 Plasma
Plasma display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent...
and LCD televisions, audio/visual, digital camera photography, portable audio, in-car entertainment, computer/video games, DVD movies, gadgets and information technology.
Currently JB Hi-Fi is the number 1 retailer of Apple Computer hardware in Australia, even more than Apple retail stores. JB Hi-Fi is also the sole store in Australia that sells Dell Computer hardware in retail stores.
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
reported in June 2007 that JB Hi-Fi is now Australia's biggest CD retailer and is second in terms of sales of computer games, televisions and car stereos.
In the full year 2009/10 report, it was reported that there are now 131 store locations in Australia and 10 in New Zealand.
As of 2011 the company has thirteen stores open in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
with eight in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and one store each in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, Palmerston North
Palmerston North
Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
, Tauranga
Tauranga
Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
and Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
.
Acquisitions
In July 2004, JB Hi-Fi bought 70% of the Clive Anthony chain in QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
.
On 13 December 2006, JB Hi-Fi acquired the Hill and Stewart
Hill and Stewart
Hill and Stewart were a chain of appliance and electronics stores in the Auckland Region of New Zealand, which began in the 1950s and closed in January 2010.-Origins:...
chain of electronics stores selling and operating in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
for NZ$
New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
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 Castle Hill (formerly Supa Centre and The Hills Homemaker Centre) which departed from the market that they had already established a strong presence, in that they specialise in whitegoods.
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 pursue the JB Hi-Fi market in New Zealand.
Controversy
On 2 March 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer CommissionAustralian Competition and Consumer Commission
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is an independent authority of the Australia government. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority to administer the Trade Practices Act 1974...
ruled that a JB Hi-Fi branch in Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, had engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of the Trade Practices Act, by selling two second-hand mobile phones to a customer who had been led to believe they were new.
In July 2009, JB Hi-Fi had mistakenly advertised on their website a Samsung
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...
flatscreen TV for $15 instead of 15 percent off, or $2,600. One hundred and five individual customers who thought they were buying the TV for $15 had been told the deal was not valid. Instead they were being offered the TV $1000 off the price, or a discount of 29 percent.