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SPECIAL STACK

Roving reporters Our regular readers will know about our fun monthly interviews with JB staff from the music, movies, and games departments. We love compiling these ques tions as they give us – and the STACK readers – a great insight into what the JB staff are watch ing, playing, or listening to. The answers we receive each month reveal how deeply invested and knowledgeable the staff members are in their rel evant categories. If you haven’t read one yet, we recommend checking them out. You can often glean what’s hot and trending at store level in the world of entertainment!

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Stores galore When the first STACK issue left the printers in June 2004, JB started the year with just 26 stores nationally. By year’s end, that had grown by six to 32. Today, that number is well over 300 across Australia and New Zealand.

T he original team behind STACK had a problem in 2004. The Australian DVD magazine we had been working on for four years had run its course. What next? How could we keep our enthusiasm for movies alive? The answer would present itself one evening playing darts in a pub in St. Kilda. Who is the biggest movie seller in Australia with a genuinely cool reputation? Easy. JB Hi-Fi. Why don’t we do a free magazine for them? So, what’s the pitch? Well, we’ve got the industry contacts and the editorial experience, and JB is the destination for Australia’s movie-loving public. Surely that’s the pitch? OK, what We’re turning 20! shall we call it? [Looks at a stack of DVDs] Mmm, STACK ? That’s where it started! Our first issue was little more than a 16-page pamphlet, with Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai on the front. After just three issues, STACK moved to its current size, and from there it grew and grew. We’ve interviewed hundreds of prominent actors, directors, game developers, and musicians over the 20 years, some of which you’ll see mentioned over the following pages. When our first issue rolled off the press in 2004, John Howard was still Australia’s Prime Minister, and The Bourne Supremacy, Spider-Man 2, and Shrek 2 were smashing it at the movies. In music, The Killers, Gwen Stefani, and Franz Ferdinand all released debut albums, while Green Day released the excellent American Idiot . Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the best-selling game in 2004, closely followed by Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater . And in tech, Motorola’s RAZR V3 was ruling the telecom waves, and plasma TVs were still the rage, with 42 inches considered a big screen size. While technology has changed, bands have come and gone, consoles have evolved through multiple generations, and Hollywood stars have burned bright and then dulled, one thing has remained constant: the STACK team is still as passionate about tech, games, movies, and music in 2024 as we were in 2004. Thanks for your ongoing support!

We are family For 13 years, STACK worked closely alongside JB, creating content in unison with the hottest films, games, and albums and covering some of the most significant entertain ment events worldwide. However, in 2017, JB took the opportunity to make the relationship official and brought the STACK team directly into the family as their content arm, a truly unique model in retail. While we are still afforded independence, the biggest – and the best – retailer in this space has given us the opportunity to promote our work on a massive platform!

With thanks Many people have been involved along the journey with STACK , so a big thanks to the following (in alphabetical order): Adam Colby, Alan Netherclift, Alesha Kolbe, Andre Eivik, Anthony Horan, Bec Summer, Ben Sheehan, Bill Craske, Chris Allen, Ellie Johnson, Fleur Parker, Gary Siewart, John Ferguson, Jonathan Alley, Justin Buxton, Karl Lock, Kerrie Taylor, Linda Patterson, Mark Ankucic, Michelle Black, Mike Glynn, Rebecca Rowlands, Sachi Fernando, Sally Hull, Savannah Douglas, Simon Wells, Tim Lambert, Todd Avery, Tracy Kingman, Zoë Radas. And last but by no means least, a huge thanks to the army of freelancers, who are far too many to name. More magazines? Yep. Yep, it wasn’t just STACK in Australia that the team at HQ worked on. In 2009, we started STACK New Zealand, which ran for four years. We also produced a STACK Blu-ray periodical highlighting the best movies and TV on that format and a publication called Cornerstones . This one explored the essential 100 albums at JB that deserve a place in every record collection.

STACK’s history at a glance

We press start on games in 2006 When JB introduced

Let’s get digital – in 2007 With a greater desire to share our content further, the natural evolution was to take our entertainment coverage online. The STACK website kicked off in March 2007.

We drop the needle on music in 2011 The last logical step on our software journey came in 2011 when we pulled music into the STACK family. Music quickly became a go-to for JB customers looking for the best talent interviews and album reviews.

STACK socials are go… in 2012 . In 2012, STACK hired our first social media manager. With ambition and verve, our socials presence grew exponentially within weeks, and we built a passionate following that continues to this day.

The tech step The final piece of the STACK /JB jigsaw was the introduction of tech. We had covered gaming hardware and the occasional tech review for years, but in 2019, tech finally carved out its own section.

video games and consoles, STACK followed suit with

coverage in the mag. Regular trips to events like E3 and the Tokyo Games Show soon followed.

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