JB Hi-Fi facts for kids
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as |
|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Keilor East, Victoria, Australia (1974; 51 years ago) |
| Founder | John Barbuto |
| Headquarters | Southbank, Victoria, Australia |
|
Number of locations
|
218 (2023) |
|
Area served
|
|
|
Key people
|
|
| Products | |
| Revenue |  A$9.63 billion (2023) |
|
Operating income
|
A$743.1 million (2021) |
| A$506.1 million (2021) |
|
| Total assets | A$1.106 billion (2020) |
| Subsidiaries | The Good Guys |
JB Hi-Fi Limited is a well-known Australian company. It sells all sorts of cool electronics and home appliances. You can find their stores in Australia and New Zealand. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. This means anyone can buy shares in the company. Its main office is in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria.
As of June 2023, JB Hi-Fi has many stores. There are 202 JB Hi-Fi and JB Hi-Fi Home stores in Australia. New Zealand has 16 JB Hi-Fi stores. The company also owns 106 The Good Guys stores in Australia. In total, they have 218 stores across both countries.
Contents
How JB Hi-Fi Started and Grew
The Early Years: 1974 to 2009
JB Hi-Fi began in 1974. It was started by John Barbuto in Keilor East, a suburb of Melbourne. Back then, it mainly sold music and special hi-fi sound equipment.
John Barbuto sold the business in 1983. New owners, Richard Bouris, David Rodd, and Peter Caserta, took over. They helped JB Hi-Fi grow a lot. By the year 2000, it had become a chain of ten stores. These stores were in Melbourne and Sydney.
In 2003, JB Hi-Fi became a public company. This meant its shares could be bought and sold on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
In 2004, JB Hi-Fi bought most of the Clive Anthonys chain. These were electronics stores in Queensland. Two years later, in 2006, JB Hi-Fi expanded to New Zealand. They bought a chain of 11 electronics stores called Hill and Stewart. By 2007, JB Hi-Fi opened its own stores in New Zealand. The Hill and Stewart stores were closed by 2010.
Growing Bigger: 2010 to 2019
By 2010, there were 10 JB Hi-Fi stores in New Zealand. This number grew to 13 by 2011.
In 2015, something important happened. A young man with Down Syndrome was stopped from entering a store in Brisbane. This was a mistake. The company's CEO, Richard Murray, quickly said sorry to the family. He apologized publicly for the misunderstanding.
A big change came in 2016. JB Hi-Fi bought another large company called The Good Guys. This deal cost $870 million. With The Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi became much bigger. They now had a larger share of the home appliance market in Australia. They also grew their share of the electronics market.
By 2018, JB Hi-Fi was one of the largest electronics and home appliance sellers in the world. It was ranked as the equal 7th biggest.
Recent Times: 2020 to Today
Around 2020, JB Hi-Fi's sales changed. They started selling fewer music CDs, DVDs, and video games. Instead, they sold more hardware. This includes things like televisions, mobile phones, and computers. By 2020, software sales were only 8% of their total sales. This was a big drop from 27% in 2010.
In 2021, Richard Murray, the CEO for seven years, left the company. Terry Smart, who was in charge of The Good Guys, took over as the new CEO.
About the Company's Business
Financial Performance
JB Hi-Fi has been very successful. In the financial year 2022, their total sales were AUD$9.23 billion. This shows how much money they made from selling products. They also reported a good net profit after tax of AUD$544.9 million. This means they made a lot of money after paying all their costs and taxes.
Store Numbers
As of June 30, 2022, the company had many stores. There were 199 JB Hi-Fi stores in Australia. They also had 14 JB Hi-Fi stores in New Zealand. On top of that, they operated 106 The Good Guys stores in Australia. In total, the company runs 319 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
JB Hi-Fi's Unique Style
JB Hi-Fi is famous for its special look. They use hand-drawn signs in their stores. Their employees also write product reviews. Some of these reviews have become very popular online. People think these unique signs make the store seem more friendly. It also gives the idea that JB Hi-Fi saves money on fancy printing. This might help them keep prices low.
The stores themselves have a "bare bones" or simple design. This laid-back style is part of the JB Hi-Fi brand.
