Crazy John's

Crazy John's is a mobile phone retail chain in Australia started up by Turkish-Australian businessman John Ilhan (d. 23 October, 2007).

Crazy John’s opened its first store in Brunswick Melbourne in 1991 and since then it has never stopped growing. By 1998 there were fifteen Crazy John’s stores in Victoria and the retailer was ranked in the top ten of Telstra’s mobile dealers. Today, Crazy John’s is the largest independent phone retailer in Australia, employing more than 600 people, with over 120 retail stores across Australia.

The name Crazy John's came about through people constantly telling John Ilhan his marketing ideas were “crazy’’ and the name just stuck.

Crazy John's recently held a bid for the naming rights to Subiaco Oval. But soon lost it due to community action.

Crazy John's first came to prominence when they became the first company in Australia to offer $1 mobile phones to their customers. In July 2007, when Crazy John's contract with Telstra terminated following legal issues, it made the transition towards becoming a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) through using the Vodafone network. [1]. They are also Vodafone dealers

Crazy John's currently serves 500,000 customers across Australia.

After another court battle with Telstra, Crazy John's has now switch carrier allegiance to Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone carrier.

External links

• Crazy John's Mobile Phones
• The Age (Crazy John's to abandon Telstra
• Tributes flow for 'Crazy John'