JB Hi Fi will tomorrow open its brand new store right in the middle of the North Sydney CBD
ChannelNews got an exclusive look at the new store which is packed with content, portable devices, tablets, software and smartphones.
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Located at the junction of Walker and Mount Street, the store, which does not sell TVs or home theatre gear, is designed to cater for “lunch time traffic and passing trade”, and the Company is marking the location in an effort to build weekend traffic on Sydney’s North Shore.
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The closest JB Hi Fi stores to the new location are based in the City and Artarmon, where JB Hi Fi sells their full range of merchandise.
The North Sydney store features extensive merchandising for headphones and portable devices with several vendors investing in point of sale merchandising kiosks.
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The newest JB Hi store to open in Oz says a lot about the current state of the technology industry – there’s a Samsung stand with its line of Galaxy Tabs, Wi-Fi -ready cameras, and notebooks taking pride of place at the front to the store, alongside its accessories.
Meanwhile, taking second place behind Samsung is Apple’s merchandise including Macs, iPads and iPod accessories.
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This appears to be a reflection of Samsung’s new found dominance in the technology industry, as demand for its Galaxy Tabs and smartphones intensifies, at the expense of the once undisputed leader, Apple.
There is also a clever audio space in JB’s North Sydney store, with Bowers and Wilkins, Pioneer, Sonos and wireless audio systems on display where consumers can not only listen to tunes on range of headphones from Beats, Sennheiser and SkullCandy, but the best bit is there are several mirrors where you can admire how the fashionable headgear looks.
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But the store also carries a slew of other audio gear, speakers and accessories from JBL, B&W and Sony, and the rear of the 890 square metre store is completely dedicated to DVDs, music and games.
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There’s also a range of smartphones from HTC, Samsung and Apple, as well as Belkin networking and software, including Microsoft’s new Office, out today.
It is also interesting to note Tech2Go consumer electronics store recently shut its doors in the nearby North Sydney Greenwood plaza shopping centre after less than a year in operation.
The other nearest competitor is a small Dick Smith store on Miller St, North Sydney.
We will report back tomorrow to see how its first opening day fared.
