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David Jones, Australia's oldest department store, enters administration
BBC reports David Jones has gone into voluntary administration after 188 years, with about 6,000 staff and 38 stores still trading while receivers review operations.
- New headline Was: “Australia's oldest department store David Jones collapses after 188 years”
- Our desk filed its story
David Jones, a 188-year-old Australian department store chain, has entered voluntary administration, BBC reported from Sydney on Thursday1.
Administrators McGrathNicol said the company's 38 physical stores and online sites would keep operating while receivers at FTI Consulting review the business1. The chain employs about 6,000 people, with 17 stores in Westfield shopping centres1.
Chief executive Erica Berthold said, "David Jones is an iconic company and so many Australians have stories and memories of visiting DJ's stores"1.
Hours before the board vote, Scentre, which owns Westfield, said the retailer had not paid October rent and was in breach of its tenancy agreement, according to BBC1. FTI Consulting's Christopher Hill said trading conditions, rising costs, an outdated store footprint and supply-chain problems had led to the move, and that administration would give the company room to restructure1.
BBC attributed the chain's strain to customers shifting from traditional shops to online retail1. Jana Bowden of Macquarie University's Business School, speaking to BBC, described the collapse as a sign the department-store format was fading1. Whether stores will close, and how creditors will be treated, was not detailed in the report1.