Gary Johnston and Jaycar’s journey
Gary Johnston, who passed away after a short illness on 10 March 2021, lived by the old adage that if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life.
That life began in an extremely modest house in the western suburbs of Sydney where he frequented the Concord tip to scavenge discarded parts from AWA and Phillips.
His passion for hobbyist electronics begun at an early age. As a teen he built amplifiers whose quality belied the origins of their construction.
Working as a sales rep in the electronics industry brought him to the attention of a young Dick Smith.
In 1975 Gary started working side by side with Dick and eventually rose to the role of Marketing Manager for Dick Smith Electronics.
Upon selling Dick Smith Electronics to Woolworths in 1980, it was Dick who left an advertisement on Gary’s desk for a business that was for sale in the Sydney CBD, John Carr and Co.
Gary bought that business in 1981, changed the name to Jaycar, and began to transform a single showroom into Jaycar Electronics.
The 1980s saw Jaycar grow from 1 store to 10. The following decade saw that double to 20 stores including one in New Zealand.
To those who remember the company at that point it felt like a ‘huge’ business.
Little did we know the business was poised for massive expansion starting in the 2000s. 30 stores by 2003, 50 by 2008 and then the 100th store nine years later in 2017.
This period of rapid growth saw the company bring in many new staff members allowing Gary to focus his time on sourcing new products and producing an ever-expanding annual catalogue.
The 2010s saw the demise of once mighty retail competitors Tandy Electronics and Dick Smith Electronics.
All the while Jaycar was going from strength to strength.
It was a testament to the resilience of the business that Gary had built and the importance of sticking to the core strengths of what made Jaycar successful.
2013 saw the first Road Tech Marine (RTM) store open. This new retail concept was setup to cater to the 4WD, boating and caravanning market.
As of February 2022, RTM had 28 stores nationally and 5 new stores planned to open by the end of the year.
At the time of Gary’s death in March 2021 the Jaycar Group included over 150 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
The success of Jaycar allowed Gary to indulge in a wide array of projects from driving his 1965 Valiant around the Australian Outback in several charity ‘Variety Club Bashes’, to buying an ex-Czechoslovakian Airforce Mig-21 fighter and more recently supporting Team Warby with David Warby’s push to break the World water speed record currently held by his father Ken.
His most recent passion, and perhaps his most significant, was his creation of ‘Submarines for Australia’, a lobbying effort aimed at the Australian Government scrapping its planned $90 billion + project to acquire French nuclear submarines and retro fit them with diesel engines and to embrace nuclear power.
In an amazing coincidence Gary’s lobbying efforts were realised on his 72nd birthday when, on 16 September 2021, it was announced that the Australian Government would purchase eight nuclear submarines using top of the line US technology.
Gary would have been proud beyond belief to have seen his efforts culminate in this announcement.
Gary is survived by his loving wife Kerry, children Chris, Tim, Jeni, and Robbie and 6 grandchildren.
We all miss him terribly but could not be prouder of the man who started life in a 2-bedroom cottage in Concord to rise to one of the most successful businessmen in Australia.
A self-made man the like of which they don’t make anymore.
Tim Johnston, General Manager Property, Jaycar
