Jaycar


Jaycar is an Australia-based retailer dealing in electronic components and related products for electronics enthusiasts. It was founded in 1981 when Gary Johnston, a former Dick Smith Electronics employee, purchased John Carr & Co. Pty Ltd.
Jaycar has over 100 stores and more than 200 authorised stockists and agents throughout Australia and New Zealand that carry products from Jaycar's Electus Distribution wholesale division.

Controversies

In 2005, Jaycar received negative attention from its imported Taiwanese "Choke-A-Chicken" toy that squawked and flapped its wings when strangled around its neck. The RSPCA Queensland described the toy as "grossly irresponsible".
In October 2012, Gary Johnston, Managing Director of Jaycar was interviewed on Sydney radio station 2GB in seeking to explain the behaviour of unidentified Canterbury-Bankstown NRL club staff who had allegedly made degrading and threatening remarks to Channel Nine reporter, Jayne Azzopardi, though firm evidence of who the comments were directed at remains unclear. Johnston was quoted as saying "If a woman walks into some bars in Sydney, she will be ogled. She will be treated as an object and that's the way it is. She doesn't have to walk into those bars.
This led to calls to boycott Jaycar stores. It was felt that Johnston's comments were seen as providing support and justification for sexist behaviour, and were considered a 'non-apology' by some media outlets. Boxer and model Lauryn Eagle came to Johnston's defence, stating, "You walk into a bar, men look at you, they stare at you, that’s just the way it is and that’s the truth. What they didn’t record was he did apologise…the comments were definitely not appropriate, but the reality is, looking and ogling, definitely."
In October 2016, Jaycar was accused of copying the Arduino Experimenters kit, designed and sold by local Australian electronics company Freetronics.