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 more than 1000 employees and occupies 37 acres in Glenview IL, a suburb of Chicago. Abt now operates 60 large delivery trucks, 45 custom installation trucks, and more than 100 service vans.

CEA Inducts Abt Founders David and Jewel Abt to the 2008 CE Hall of Fame

City of Chicago dedicate block that housed Abt’s original location to Jewel and David Abt

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.

With a history of continuous growth in what is a very competitive business, Abt Electronics receives more than 90 percent of its business from repeat and referred customers. 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.

In 1998, Abt.com was launched and became one of a handful of authorized online retailers for brands like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Bose and Onkyo. A recent article from the Chicago Tribune stated, "Abt's keys to success are the family's almost fanatical devotion to quality service and competitive pricing, its development of a higher-end niche, its in-the-trenches mode of management and its down-to-earth, low-key approach to selling and showroom decor."

From Abt Electronics' humble beginning, the business has grown over time into one of the largest single-store operations in the country.


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