Bids for David Jones were due on Friday. Whoever wins will get a department store half the size it was a fortnight ago
The deadline for expressions of interest in buying David Jones fell at close of business on Friday, little more than a week after Australia's oldest department store chain entered voluntary administration. The receivers have already decided 19 of its 38 stores will close by the end of the year, including Perth's Hay Street Mall, Carousel and Garden City.
Three things to know
- Nineteen stores close: seven in NSW, three each in Victoria and WA, two each in Queensland and South Australia, Woden in the ACT and Newmarket in Auckland, the chain's only New Zealand store.
- About 6,000 people work for David Jones. Staff have been told they will keep being paid as normal, and those at the closing stores are being consulted; no job-loss figure has been given.
- Gift cards can still be used for now, but the administrators have not guaranteed them. If no buyer is found, holders would generally rank as unsecured creditors, so they are best spent soon.
Anyone who wants to buy David Jones had until close of business on Friday to say so. The 188-year-old chain went into voluntary administration last week, and its receivers have already redrawn the map: 19 of its 38 stores will stop trading by the end of December.
The suburban network takes the heaviest cut. Flagship stores in capital city centres have largely survived, but Perth loses its CBD store in Hay Street Mall as well as Carousel and Garden City.
The receivers, FTI Consulting, called it “an urgent restructure of the business”. Chief executive Erica Berchtold said the store portfolio was “no longer the right shape for the business”.
Which stores are closing?
- NSW (7): Green Hills, Hornsby, Macarthur Square, Macquarie Centre, Parramatta, Warringah Mall, Wollongong Central
- Victoria (3): Glen Waverley, Highpoint, Malvern Central
- Western Australia (3): Hay Street Mall, Garden City, Carousel
- Queensland (2): Robina Town Centre, Sunshine Plaza
- South Australia (2): Marion, West Lakes
- ACT (1): Woden
- New Zealand (1): Newmarket, Auckland
No final closing date has been set for each store. Stock at the closing stores is expected to be discounted or moved.
How did a 188-year-old chain get here?
Years of losses left David Jones unable to pay its rent. Westfield owner Scentre Group confirmed the retailer had not paid rent since September, negotiations broke down, and five Westfield stores, including Parramatta, Hornsby, Woden and Carousel, had already been marked for closure as loss-makers.
There are two sets of insolvency practitioners. McGrathNicol is the voluntary administrator, acting for creditors as a whole. FTI Consulting is the receiver, acting for the main secured lender, Hilco. It is FTI that is running the business day to day and made the closure decision.
Charles Lloyd Jones, 68, a fifth-generation member of the founding family and the last of them to work in the business, said a store without a unique offer is in “a race to the bottom with price”.
Who will want it?
Retail analysts expect any buyer to want a handful of strong sites rather than the whole business, with flagship stores such as Elizabeth Street in Sydney at the core. That is broadly the shape the receivers have already cut the chain to.
The administrators plan to ask the NSW Supreme Court for more time before creditors decide the company’s future, to allow a sale or recapitalisation to be worked out.
What does it mean for shoppers and suppliers?
- Gift cards: still accepted in stores and online for now. The administrators have not said they will be honoured whatever happens. Under past administrations, gift card holders have sometimes kept their value and sometimes lost it; the safest course is to use them.
- Returns: items bought from 7 November must be exchanged within 14 days for change of mind (19 days online); earlier purchases keep the 30-day window. Consumer law rights for faulty goods still apply.
- Credit cards: Latitude has stopped taking new applications for David Jones cards, but existing cardholders can keep using them and their points.
- Suppliers: old debts are tied up in the administration. Suppliers can keep selling by opening new accounts with the receiver, but some smaller labels say the risk is too high.
Why it matters beyond the shop floor
A David Jones closure takes an anchor tenant out of 19 shopping centres at once. For centres such as Parramatta, Garden City and Marion, landlords now face finding a use for one of their largest spaces in the year ahead, and the brands that sold through David Jones lose a national shopfront.
How we got here
The key moments that brought this story into focus. Open any moment for detail.
1838David Jones opens
The chain begins trading in Sydney.
September 2026Rent stops
Scentre Group says David Jones has not paid rent since September.
Early November 2026Administration
David Jones enters voluntary administration; FTI Consulting is appointed receiver for lender Hilco.
7 November 2026Returns tightened
Change-of-mind window cut to 14 days for new purchases.
11 November 202619 stores to close
Receivers announce half the network will close by year's end.
13 November 2026Bids due
Expressions of interest close at close of business.
What happens next
The receivers and administrators will now assess the expressions of interest. McGrathNicol plans to ask the NSW Supreme Court to extend the convening period, which would push back the report to creditors and the second creditors' meeting. The 19 stores are expected to trade until the end of December. VNN will report whether a buyer or recapitalisation deal emerges.
Sources
- VNN
VNN never names people who give us information in confidence. How we protect sources and tips.
That is the story in a minute. For the evidence, context and what happens next, switch to the full story.
Comments
0 commentsCommunity rules
To read and join the conversation, please agree to our rules.
You have agreed to the community rules.
No comments yet. Start the conversation.