JB Hi-Fi Pty Ltd

Type	Public (ASX: JBH)
Founded	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1974
Headquarters	Melbourne, Australia
Key people	Richard Uechtritz, CEO
Industry	Retail
Products	CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, video games and consumer electronics
Revenue	$1.83 billion AUD (2007-8)
Website	www.jbhifi.com.au

JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH) is an Australian CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, video game and consumer electronics chain store.

[edit] History

JB Hi-Fi was established in Melbourne 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 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.^[1]

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, 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.

A JB Hi-Fi store in Macquarie Centre, Sydney

Recently, while many music stores claim to have been losing money, JB Hi-Fi has increased profits by 50% in the years 2004-05 and 2005-06 and a further 56% in 2007-08. 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. The success of JB Hi-Fi's business model can be seen in the extremely rapid growth of the company after it was floated, with the chain opening dozens of new stores around the country.^{[citation needed]}

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.

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.^[2]

In the half year 2007/8 report, it was reported that there are now 89 store locations in Australia and 15 in New Zealand.^[3] JB currently has eight stores open in New Zealand, with seven in Auckland (Queen Street, Albany, Manukau, New Lynn, St. Lukes, Botany and Westgate) as well as stores in Wellington and Hamilton.

[edit] Acquisitions

In July 2004, JB Hi-Fi bought 70% of the Clive Anthony chain in Queensland.^[1]

On 13 December 2006, JB Hi-Fi acquired the Hill and Stewart chain of electronics stores selling and operating in New Zealand for $NZ17.5 million ($A15.3 million).

In June 2007, JB Hi-Fi expanded its foothold in the Australian market by opening a Sydney branch of Clive Anthonys, at the Supa Centa Castle Hill (formerly Hills Homemaker Centre) which departed from the market that they had already established a strong presence, in that they specialise in whitegoods.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Controversy

On 2 March 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• JB Hi-Fi
• JB Hi-Fi Online Store