The Good Guys has been a family owned business since its inception in Melbourne in 1952 when Andrew Muir’s father Ian opened Ian Muir’s Radio and Electrical Centre in Essendon.

Mr Muir started working for the company as a teenager on the shop floor wrapping Christmas gifts as a holiday job, before graduating to selling appliances during university breaks. He then became the company’s Accountant in 1987 before taking over the reigns as CEO in 1993.

Initial growth was steady through the 1960s and 1970s with eight stores around Melbourne trading under the brand name Mighty Muir’s. Careful small acquisitions throughout the 1980s and 1990s, left the group with a strong base but an umbrella of cumbersome trading names. To provide the stores with one brand name and to prepare for national expansion, Mr Muir and his father decided to rename the brand The Good Guys in 1997.

Mr Muir was instrumental in developing The Good Guys brand which included the now iconic TV advertising commercial featuring The Beach Boys’ song Good Vibrations, with altered lyrics, and the unique selling proposition, Pay Less Pay Cash. Constant use of the phrase, and the catchy and fun TV ad, turned into a now iconic piece of Branding.

What followed, under Mr Muir’s leadership as CEO and later as Executive Chairman of the Board, was a rapid expansion of stores, across both metropolitan and regional Australia, and the evolution of one of Australia’s leading retail brands.

The Good Guys continues to grow both across its store network and online by maintaining a high level of customer service, lowest prices and a wide product range. The Good Guys puts customers at the centre of everything it does, identifying their needs and delighting them both online and in-store.

This is reflected by customer satisfaction being at an all-time high with The Good Guys being awarded with the 2015 Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customer Award for a fifth consecutive year, the 2014 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award for the past four years, the 2014 International Customer Service Professionals Customer Service Award, the 2014 Reader’s Digest Quality Service Award, and the 2014 Retail Asia Pacific ‘Best of the Best’ Award, while also being recognised as an ABA 100 winner for Service Excellence in the Australian Business Awards 2015.

 

Andrew Muir established The Good Guys Foundation in 2010 to energise The Good Guys philanthropic activities, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board. One of Mr Muir’s key philosophies is to strengthen the community in which The Good Guys operates by giving something back to the community.

The Good Guys Foundation is a private ancillary fund that donates a percentage of every online and in-store transaction to local community organisations. Since its inception, The Good Guys Foundation has donated in excess of $8 million and has supported over 150 charities around Australia.

The Foundation has provided funds for a variety of causes including health services, youth programs, disability services and support for the disadvantaged.

Following the Black Saturday bush fires in Victoria, The Good Guys Foundation donated six new family sized Jayco caravans to the Red Cross Bush Fire Appeal to help those most in need and worked with the Lions Club to fit out four mobile laundries with washers and dryers to go into fire affected areas.

The Good Guys Foundation has also provided assistance in the wake of the 2013 New South Wales bushfires, 2011 Queensland floods and 2011 West Australian bushfires by making monetary and goods in-kind donations to those most affected and running nation-wide fundraising campaigns matching public donations dollar for dollar.

Through The Good Guys Foundation, The Good Guys has set the standard for community giving in Australia and is ranked number one against all Australian businesses for citizenship (Australian Reputation Index 2015). The Good Guys was also selected as an ABA 100 Winner for Community Contribution in the Australian Business Awards 2015 for its philanthropic leadership in establishing Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia.

 

Andrew Muir established The Good Foundation in 2010 as a charity to focus on programs and projects that promote good health and nutrition. Mr Muir presently serves as a Board Director for The Good Foundation.

Mr Muir developed The Good Foundation and, with the assistance of The Good Guys, brought Jamie’s Ministry of Food to Australia. He has a passion for nutrition and strongly believes that we have to do something about the Australia’s growing obesity problem.

The Good Foundation’s first priority program is Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia, an engaging community-focused program that teaches basic cooking skills to people all over Australia. The program aims to assist members of the community to increase their knowledge of good food, learn to prepare healthy meals and get back to basics in the kitchen and have fun while they do it.

The Good Foundation currently operates six Ministry of Food Centres, including two Mobile Kitchens. The centres are located in Ipswich, Queensland, Geelong, Victoria, Noarlunga, South Australia and Wetherill Park, Sydney. The Mobile Kitchens operate in Queensland and Victoria.

The Ministry of Food Centres are a place where anyone aged 12 and over, regardless of gender, ethnicity or background can learn how easy and cheap it can be to cook from scratch through practical hands-on cooking classes in a friendly, supportive and fun environment.

The Ministry of Food Mobile Kitchens are purpose built kitchen classrooms on wheels which travel around to various communities where participants can learn Jamie’s hints and shortcuts to cooking simple, nutritious and tasty meals from scratch.

If you would like to make a donation to The Good Foundation and Jamie’s Ministry of Food click here.

Andrew Muir established Best Friends in 2007 after identifying a consumer need in the Australian market for a full service pet store.

Mr Muir developed Best Friends out of a love for the consumer. He wanted to revolutionise the pet store concept in Australia by offering pet lovers everything they need for their pet under one roof including an in-store 7-day a week vet clinic, expert advice, state of the art grooming salon, puppy pre-school and of course a huge range of pet suppliers with best prices guaranteed.

Best Friends Pet Care Centres can be found along the east coast of Australia in Victoria, Canberra and Queensland.

Best Friends supports the Lost Dogs Home, Australia’s largest animal welfare shelter, and encourages potential cat or dog owners to think about adoption and give abandoned animals and second chance and a good home.