Mass store closures at embattled retail chain David Jones have left thousands of staff across five states in employment limbo.
19 stores across Australia and New Zealand, mostly in suburban areas, would continue trading only until the end of December, receivers FTI Consulting announced on Wednesday.
NSW is the hardest-hit state with seven stores facing the axe, including the chain’s outlet in Parramatta.
Hay Street Mall in central Perth is the most notable store closure in the centre of a capital city.
David Jones’ only New Zealand-based store, at Newmarket in Auckland, will also be shuttered in the restructure.
The sweeping closures have left thousands of the company’s 6000 staff in limbo and the union representing many workers is blaming the company.
“This is a sad and stressful day for all DJs workers,” Bernie Smith, NSW secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association said.
“No one should forget that their plight is entirely the fault of bad management decisions and initiatives going back years, if not decades.”
The union would meet management and administrators on Thursday to ensure all staff received their entitlements, Smith said.
The receivers said consultation with affected staff would continue for a week and the closures were necessary to try to ensure David Jones could survive.
“The receivers recognise the restructure will have a material impact on many individual members of the David Jones team,” FTI said in a statement.
“These measures will help give David Jones the best chance for a sustainable future.”
No final date for the closures had been set but the receivers anticipated they would shut by the end of 2026, FTI said.
Business groups are urging customers to continue shopping at the department store, especially in the bumper retail period from Black Friday until Boxing Day.
“The total collapse of David Jones would be a very big blow for an economy that is already struggling and it must be avoided if humanly possible,” Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said.
The 188-year-old retailer has faced problems paying its rent bills, as well as other financial struggles in its day-to-day business.
But a member of the family that set up the department store chain says there is still room for the personal touch and carefully crafted in-store experiences.
Charles Edward Lloyd Jones was a fifth-generation member of the founding family to work in the business, and the last.
He left in 1993 after finishing up as store manager at David Jones Chatswood on Sydney’s lower north shore and similar stints at stores at Bankstown in the west and Bondi Junction in the east.
“If you don’t have a unique offer, then it’s a race to the bottom with price,” the 68-year-old told AAP.
“And then if it’s a race to the bottom with price, people start cutting staff and when they start cutting staff the service diminishes.”
Asked if he had circled David Jones looking for someone to ring up his purchase, Lloyd Jones said: “Too many times”.
David Jones last changed hands for just under $100 million in 2023, when it was sold to Anchorage Capital Partners by South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings following a $2.1 billion takeover in 2014.
The retailer posted a $95.5 million loss in 2024/25, on top of a $74 million loss in 2023/24.
Expressions of interest to buy the business must be filed by close of business on Friday.