JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics and home appliances retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. [ 1] As of June 2023 the company operates 218 stores across Australia and New Zealand including 202 JB Hi-Fi and JB Hi-Fi Home stores in Australia, and 16 JB Hi-Fi stores in New Zealand, in addition to 106 The Good Guys stores in Australia. [ 2] History 1974–2009 JB Hi-Fi was established in the Melbourne suburb of Keilor East by John Barbuto in 1974, selling music and specialist hi-fi equipment. Barbuto sold the business in 1983 to Richard Bouris, David Rodd and 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 …show more content…
[3] 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). JB Hi-Fi later established stores under their own JB Hi-Fi brand in 2007, and closed all Hill and Stewart stores in 2010. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] 2010–2019 A JB Hi-Fi store at Stockland Rockhampton Shopping Centre, in Rockhampton, Queensland, in 2012 In 2010, there were 10 JB Hi-Fi stores in New Zealand. In 2011, this increased to 13. [8] On 22 September 2015, a man with Down Syndrome was refused entry into a JB Hi-Fi store in Brisbane, Australia, after being confused for another person with the same disability who had been banned from the store. The resulting media attention led CEO Richard Murray to apologise publicly to the family. [9] On 13 September 2016, JB Hi-Fi announced its acquisition of The Good Guys, for $870 million, the acquisition resulted in JB Hi-Fi group enlarging its share of the Australian home appliances retail market to 29% and growing its share of the consumer electronics retail market to 24%.