Tech store JB Hi-Fi opens its smallest express store in Southbank, Melbourne
Electronics giant JB Hi-Fi has opened its smallest store in Australia, targeting workers who can purchase goods and carry them home on their commute. HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN BUY
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Electronics chain JB Hi-Fi will open its smallest store in Australia today targeting inner-city office workers who can purchase small goods and carry them on their commute home.
The tiny 68sq m is about 19 times smaller than a typical 1350sq m store and opens (Tues) in Melbourne’s Southbank precinct.
It’s the first “express” JB Hi-Fi store outside of two mini stores in Sydney’s Domestic Airport terminal which are 75sq m each.
The new Melbourne location will stock small items including smartphones, smartwatches, cables, accessories and computers.
JB Hi-Fi chief executive Richard Murray said its express store would include their best-selling smaller items.
The retail giant is testing the waters with its latest store opening and would closely monitor how it goes.
Mr Murray said it would only stock items that he said shoppers “could carry home on the train”.
“They will be audio, telecommunications, connected tech, accessories, cables, you’ll be able to buy a Google mini and an iPhone,” he said.
“You can buy those more impulse purchases like a charger or batteries, so those cash and carry purchases that you might need for work.
“It works like a normal JB store but it’s just a smaller store.”
Southbank is a popular hub for office workers and also a key area for tourists to visit while in Melbourne.
JB Hi-Fi relocated its headquarters from Chadstone to Southbank earlier this year, so the new store would be close by to its head office.
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It is located in a small cluster of shops at the bottom of the office towers in the Southgate complex.
It will be open from 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on Saturday and closed on Sundays.
Mr Murray said it was “a test” to determine whether it would be a permanent store or result in more express stores opening.
“We constantly evolve our offers and we constantly challenge ourselves,” he said.
“Sometimes things that work in small formats and they teach us things about our big formats.
“This is another example of us challenging ourselves and innovating.”