The potential closure of David Jones in Rundle Mall and West Lakes just before Christmas is a horror story. Republic will help any employees who need resume assistance. This story is from the SMH.
Thousands of David Jones employees are alarmed by the department store chain’s financial troubles and stands ready to protect workers in the case of mass redundancies as the company prepares to close as many as half of its stores.
Even in the best-case scenario, David Jones’ footprint of 38 stores will be axed by more than half to about 12 to 15, according to people with knowledge of the matter, with 70 per cent of revenue being made by a third of its existing stores.
At any point, British investor and distressed business lender Hilco has the right to call in receivers.
“The reports of David Jones’ predicament are alarming,” the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) national secretary Gerard Dwyer, said.
Thousands of David Jones workers could lose their jobs amid speculation the retailer could be put into administration as early as this week if it cannot reach an agreement to close some of its 38 stores and receive rent concessions to help it survive.
The SDA said the 2024 David Jones Enterprise Agreement covered 4644 employees, not including executives or warehouse staff.
David Jones’ 2025 financial report, which showed sales declined to $2 billion and losses increased to more than $95 million, listed 5652 employees in total.
Dwyer said the union’s priorities were to ensure as many workers as possible were kept employed, and “protecting and prioritising all legal and financial entitlements for affected workers in the event of any redundancies”.
Last week, David Jones’ owner, private equity group Anchorage Capital, confirmed it was in “intense” discussions with landlords such as Westfield-owner Scentre to decide the retailer’s long-term future by Christmas. Its survival bid is expected to include a significant number of store closures.
Suppliers said they are restricting the financial terms of sales to David Jones due to lengthening payment terms.
Suppliers will become unsecured creditors and potentially lose significantly on any outstanding bills if the retailer goes into administration.
Distressed business lender Hilco Capital said it has provided funding to the once iconic department store to see it through the Black Friday and December sales period, which traditionally provides most of its sales for the year.
“Hilco Capital has funded above the agreed facility to allow David Jones to increase stock holdings ahead of the busy Christmas trade and sales period,” a Hilco spokesperson said. “Hilco remains supportive of the business, and any inference otherwise is false.”
David Jones declined to comment on its survival struggle, however sources close to the company said the retailer “continues to operate as usual, and there’s no change to our day-to-day operations.”
While consumer advocacy group Choice has warned shoppers to use up their David Jones gift cards while they can, the sources stressed that gift cards and David Jones Rewards remained “currently redeemable”.
The 188-year-old institution is the closest it’s ever come to financial if not existential ruin, besieged by a world where shoppers delight in online same-day delivery, and bricks-and-mortar stores compete with global behemoths like Amazon and Temu.
Founded in 1838 by Welsh merchant David Jones as high-quality fabric and drapery store, the retail outlet was the product of the era of mass production ushered in by the industrial revolution, and served as the heart of civic life and the economic engine of metropolitan cities.
The advent of the motor vehicle, suburban sprawl and local shopping centres meant people no longer had to visit the CBD to do their shopping. The expansion of women’s participation in the workforce in the 1970s meant higher wages – and higher labour costs.
Over the next two decades, department stores were wiped out or absorbed by David Jones and Myer, leaving behind the duopoly that exists today, and without many of the services that made it so successful.