JB Hi-Fi store in Wagga Wagga
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 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.[4]
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, SydneyRecently, while many music stores claim to have been losing money, JB Hi-Fi has increased profits by 26% FY10 when compared to 2008/2009.[3] 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.[5]
In the full year 2009/10 report, it was reported that there are now 131 store locations in Australia and 10 in New Zealand.[3]
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
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 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.[4]
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.
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.[5]
In the full year 2009/10 report, it was reported that there are now 131 store locations in Australia and 10 in New Zealand.[3]
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
