The Good Guys

The Good Guys Discount Warehouses (Australia) Pty Ltd., trading as The Good Guys, is a chain of consumer electronics retail stores in Australia and formerly New Zealand. Its national headquarters is in the Melbourne suburb of Southbank, Victoria. The company was founded by Ian Muir, and following his death in 2009 ownership of the chain remained with the Muir family. In 2016, The Good Guys was purchased by JB Hi-Fi, despite competition concerns. History Ian Muir began retailing electrical goods in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon in 1952. Initial growth was slow, with 14 stores across Victoria and Queensland trading under the brand name Mighty Muirs by 1992, when Ian and son Andrew renamed the chain of stores "The Good Guys". A strong advertising campaign in 1998 resulted in increased sales, driving rapid expansion of stores across the country. By 2009, the chain had grown to 89 stores across Australia. In 2016 there were 101 stores. The company has moved away from its "Pay Less, Pay Cash" slogan, opting for the simple catchphrase "Pay Less Every day". Its main theme song was based from the tune from "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. Business model Until 2016, Good Guys stores mainly operated as joint venture partnerships between individual store proprietors and the Muir family, although at the time of corporatisation about 40% of the group was corporately owned. The joint venture model had proven successful and operated such that store proprietors owned half the store operation and operated it as their own business. The Good Guys stores are generally large warehouse type stores and rely on volume in sales.