Leading consumer electronic retailer JB Hi Fi is in strife with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after allegations of restrivive trade practices in Victoria.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claim that they have accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from JB Hi Fi Limited after concerns about the arrangements it made with a small retailer in Ballarat to close its store. Before mid 2007 JB Hi Fi approached (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Pty Ltd, a retailer of music in Ballarat, to buy its business. The parties agreed on a sale price with JB Hi Fi intending to trade from Satisfaction's premises.
However, JB Hi Fi decided that Satisfaction's premises were too small, so the parties executed a restriction agreement. This required Satisfaction to close its store by a specified date and arrange with its landlord not to re-let the premises to another retailer of CDs/DVDs or games for 12 months. The day after Satisfaction closed its store, JB Hi Fi opened its new Ballarat store.
