JB Hi-Fi Group is ready to take its premium appliance business e&s into NSW and the Gold Coast, as tipped by ChannelNews recently, leading with a commercial push aimed squarely at Harvey Norman Commercial and a Winning Group still working out how it will justify a proposed $1 billion float.

JB Hi-Fi management has confirmed e&s will now launch commercial operations in both markets next year.

The move includes the hiring of two former Winning Group staff as NSW commercial managers, with ChannelNews understanding that other Winning executives have also been approached to switch.

e&s is also understood to be securing leases for a Gold Coast store, believed to be near Harvey Norman’s Bundall superstore.

Backend Migration Behind The Delay

The expansion was held up while JB Hi-Fi moved e&s off its ageing backend and onto group systems covering distribution, store stock allocation and marketing.

The e&s website is also being migrated to Shopify, the same platform used by JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys, which completed its own Shopify transition this year.

Commercial First, Stores Second

e&s retail location

Outside its Victorian base, e&s currently operates in Canberra and Tasmania.

JB Hi-Fi CEO Nick Wells, regarded in the industry as a methodical operator, told ChannelNews at CES that the national rollout would follow the model e&s managing director Rob Sinclair used to enter Canberra.

“Our expansion nationally will lead with commercial, in a similar way to the way [e&s managing director] Rob Sinclair launched the company’s business outside of Victoria in Canberra,” Wells said.

That puts e&s directly into the builder and developer channel, where Harvey Norman has a dominant position in Queensland and NSW and Winning Group has a smaller presence.

e&s general manager of commercial Jacques Grimaux has confirmed the NSW expansion will start with key partners.

Winning Talent Moves Across

Thomas Myers and Chantelle Davy will join e&s as NSW commercial managers from September 2026.

Davy spent a year at Winning Group as senior business development manager, and previously worked at Electrolux. Myers is also a former Winning manager with knowledge of the company’s accounts and key commercial partners.

Winnings Under New Management

The e&s push lands as Winning Group adjusts to its first non-family chief executive.

Former Super Retail Group boss Anthony Heraghty started as Winning Group CEO in late July, replacing fourth-generation chief executive John “Herman” Winning, who stepped back from day-to-day leadership after Ellerston Capital took a minority stake.

Former Super Retail Group boss Anthony Heraghty started as Winning Group CEO in late July,

Heraghty brings listed company experience. Super Retail Group dismissed him in September 2025 after its board received information about his relationship with the company’s former chief human resources officer.

Float Timing Unclear

Winning Group’s float plans remain unconfirmed. No prospectus, timetable, offer structure or ASX listing application has been made public.

European appliance executives at IFA in Berlin told ChannelNews they understand Winning is targeting annual sales growth from about $885.5 million to $1 billion, with an IPO described as a longer-term goal.

Other reports point to a float or capital raising of up to $1 billion before the end of 2026, with Morgans, Bell Potter and Barrenjoey appointed as advisers.

The Numbers Problem

Australian analysts say a near-term $1 billion valuation will be hard to justify without a strong turnaround.

Winning Group reported FY25 revenue of about $886 million, while after-tax profit fell around 60% to $1.9 million. A separate disclosure put pre-tax profit at $5.8 million. EBITDA slipped from about $30 million to $25 million.

Winning has told the market a different story for the latest year. A company spokesman told Power Retail group revenue rose 11% last financial year, with Appliances Online up 17%, and the business is expected to generate around $1 billion in sales and roughly $50 million in earnings this financial year.

Any e&s gains in the premium and commercial market would come directly out of the revenue base Winning needs to support its valuation.

Harvey Norman Commercial The Bigger Target

The largest threat to both e&s and Winning is Harvey Norman Commercial.

The business is a substantial national trade supply operation, but its revenue is not separately disclosed. Its commercial businesses are run by independent franchisees, so NSW, Queensland and the Gold Coast do not appear as reportable segments in Harvey Norman Holdings’ latest accounts.

Harvey Norman Commercial describes itself as Queensland’s largest supplier of appliances, plumbing, hot water, air conditioning, automation and furniture packages to builders and developers. It employs more than 150 staff across Queensland and runs four large-format warehouses.

Its Gold Coast operation, founded in 1989, is described as the largest of its type in Australia. Its depth in Gold Coast apartment development, rather than simply its retail footprint, is seen as a key reason e&s is building commercial before stores.

Recent Harvey Norman Commercial projects include:

Opus Broadbeach: appliances, sinks, tapware and sanitaryware.
81 Salerno Street: a 35-townhouse project fitted with Gaggenau appliances, premium sinks and tapware, and bathroom fit-outs.
72 Hedges Avenue, Mermaid Beach: 97 apartments supplied with premium kitchen appliances.