Abt Electronics

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Type	Private
Industry	Retailing
Founded	1936
Headquarters	Glenview, Illinois, USA
Products	Consumer Electronics Appliances
Employees	1200
Website	http://www.abt.com

Abt Electronics is one of largest independent retailers in the United States of consumer electronics, major appliances and furniture.^[1] Abt operates at a single location in Glenview, Illinois, on 37 acres (150,000 m²) of land, and (since 1997) through an online retail site.^[2] The store is a family-owned business that has served the Chicago market since 1936.

Contents 1 History 2 Environmental practices 3 References 4 External links

History

Abt Electronics began in 1936^[3] when Jewel Abt gave $800 to her husband David to start a business.^[4] The firm was originally named Abt Radio because it only sold small electronics in its early days. The original location was a small storefront and service department in the Logan Square area of Chicago.^[4] Abt Electronics expanded over the years to employ 1100 employees on a 65,000 square feet (6,000 m²) sales floor^[5] in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago. By 1955, the store was strictly a showroom, with merchandise kept at a separate warehouse.

• 1936 – Jewel and Dave Abt opened Abt Radio with $800, located at 2835 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL. Abt Radio had a small service department. The store sold small electronics^[6]
• 1953 - Bob Abt (current Abt CEO) began working at Abt Radio part-time and over summers.
• 1955 - Moved to Logan Square Location at 2858 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Merchandise was kept off-site at the Hollander warehouse. One van made all the deliveries.
• 1962 - Bob Abt began working full-time at Abt Radio.
• 1971 - The Abt Family opened a store in Niles, IL and kept both locations open for 6 years.
• 1975 - The Abt fleet grew from one van to four 16’ trucks.
• 1975 - Mike Abt began working part-time at Abt.
• 1977 - The Logan Square location closed.
• 1981 - Jon Abt began working part-time at Abt.
• 1985 - Fire at Abt, the only time that Abt was closed when it was scheduled to be open.
• 1985 - Billy Abt began working part-time at Abt.
• 1986 - Abt expanded the Niles location. Abt doubled in size from 12,000 to 24,000 square feet (2,200 m²).
• 1988 - Abt began hosting classes on product usage.
• 1988 - Abt.com was launched and Abt became an authorized on-line retailer for brands like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Bose, and Onkyo.
• 1989 - Mike Abt began working for Abt full-time.
• 1988 - The Niles store closed on December 9 at 9:00pm.
• 1990 - Abt’s fourth location, in Morton Grove, IL, opened for business at 9:00am, December 10.
• 1990 - Recycling program begins.
• 1995 - Billy Abt began working at Abt full-time.
• 1997 - Abt completed an Addition to its Morton Grove doubling its size.
• 1998 - Jon Abt began working at Abt full-time.
• 2002 - May 26 Abt’s fifth location, in Glenview, IL, opened for business.
• 2005 - May 25, The City of Chicago dedicated the corner of Wolfram and Milwaukee Ave. to Jewel and David Abt. The new corner is called Jewel and David Abt Way.
• 2005 - Newsweek featured Abt in an article, “Abt- Beta-Testing Paradise.”
• 2007 - June through September Abt took part in the City of Chicago’s Cool Globes program, encouraging people to take action against Global Warming.
• 2007 - The Wall Street Journal Featured Abt in an article, “A Way to Fight Big Rivals: Play Up Style and Service.”
• 2008 - Jewel and David Abt are inducted into the 2008 Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame.
• 2008 - March, the Wall Street Journal featured Abt in an article about Abt’s green initiatives.
• 2008 - In June Abt opens the Design Center
• 2008 - In Oct the 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) recycling center opens
• 2008 - Abt won the “Partners for Clean Air” award.

Environmental practices

In 2006 the company built a recycling center which collects the company's used cardboard, plastic and plastic-foam packaging and prepares it to be sold for recycling.^[7][8] The recycling center processes 150 loads of Styrofoam and 200 loads of cardboard per week. Abt also recycles 20,000 wood pallets and plastic bags per week and is in the process of installing a small wind turbine on the roof to help reduce energy costs at their store.^[8] Abt finished installing the wind turbine in late 2008.

References

External links

• Official website

Abt Electronics is a single-store consumer electronics and appliance retail operation based in Glenview, Illinois in the United States.

History

Abt Electronics began in 1936 when Jewel Abt gave $800 to her husband David to start a business. Originally named Abt Radio (since it only sold small electronics). Abt Electronics has since become the place to shop for many people in the Midwest. Starting with three employees in a small storefront in the Logan Square area of Chicago, Abt Electronics has grown to 1100 employees and occupies 37 acres in Glenview IL, a suburb of Chicago.
Today, second & third-generation family members work in the store, which has virtually every brand name, high-end electronics product and appliance on display in its showroom. Fifty trucks, 38 custom-install step vans and 46 service vans make approximately 6,000 service calls and deliveries each week.

Current Business

Despite a very competitive business environment Abt has a history of continuous growth and customer loyalty, receiving more than 90 percent of its business from repeat and referred customers in its Glenview, IL store. Abt Electronics has withstood intense competition from large chain stores and survived the test of time by giving personal service, providing award winning installations and repair work, maintaining competitive prices and meeting changing customer needs. Abt Electronics has never had to lay off a single employee despite the competitive landscape in which it operates.
In January 1997, www.abtelectronics.com was launched and became one of a handful of authorized online retailers for brands like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Bose and Onkyo. As of April 2008, www.abtelectronics.com transitioned to www.abt.com.

Since the inception of its’ e-commerce initiative, Abt Electronics has developed a dedicated Sales, Customer Service, and IT staff allowing for the delivery of a service standard well known to its’ local customers nationwide. The goal of delivering a uniquely pleasant experience that customers have grown to love in-store, remains a guiding principle for current and future online initiatives.
In 2007 Abt Electronics was listed as one of the Hot 100 Best Retailers of The Year by Internet Retailer, <ref>http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=24575</ref> and in April 2008, Abt Electronics was inducted into CE Hall of Fame by the Consumer Electronics Association. <ref>http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=11485</ref>

In the News

A Wall Street Journal Article, March 24, 2008; Page R12, <ref>http://www.abt.com/about/news/wsj_032408.php3 </ref> highlights the Green initiatives in place and underway at Abt Electronics which currently include generating its own power, a recycling effort that has reduced land fill visits by 50%, and windmill soon to be installed on the roof of the 350,000 square foot Glenview facility.
Brands ultimately represent everything that differentiates one product from another including the technology, service, and quality standards for a given product. Recently Abt Electronics was selected as one of only six retailers given approval to sell Klipsch Reference Series Premium home audio products online through www.abt.com. <ref>http://www.marketnews.ca/news_detail.asp?nid=3609 </ref>

References

External links

Abt official website