David Jones will close 19 of its 38 stores, from Perth’s Hay Street Mall to Parramatta, by the end of the year

David Jones is halving itself. The receivers running Australia’s oldest department store confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, eastern time, that 19 of its 38 stores will close, six days after the 188-year-old retailer collapsed into administration.

The closures reach every state except Tasmania, plus the ACT and New Zealand. In Perth, the Hay Street Mall store in the CBD goes, along with Garden City in Booragoon and Westfield Carousel.

The receivers, FTI Consulting’s Christopher Hill, David McGrath and Joanne Dunn, said the “urgent restructure” was needed for David Jones to have a viable future and called the effect on staff “highly regrettable”. Consultation with staff at the 19 stores began on Wednesday and runs for seven days.

Which stores are closing?

• New South Wales (7): Macquarie Centre, Macarthur Square, Parramatta, Wollongong Central, Hornsby, Green Hills, Warringah Mall
• Victoria (3): Malvern Central, Highpoint, Glen Waverley
• Western Australia (3): Hay Street Mall, Garden City, Carousel
• Queensland (2): Robina Town Centre, Sunshine Plaza
• South Australia (2): West Lakes, Marion
• ACT (1): Woden
• New Zealand (1): Newmarket

When do they shut?

There is no final date. The receivers expect the stores to cease trading by the end of the year, so the 19 sites will trade through at least part of the Christmas season before they go. The website and the remaining 19 stores keep trading.

What about the staff?

David Jones employs about 6,000 people. The receivers have not said how many jobs will go, only that the restructure will have a material impact on many members of the team. Staff at the closing stores are now in consultation, the formal step before redundancies are confirmed.

Why these stores?

Rent and losses. Scentre Group, which owns the Westfield centres, says David Jones has not paid rent on its Westfield stores since September, in breach of its contracts, and talks with the landlord broke down before the collapse. Westfield stores at Parramatta, Hornsby, Woden and Carousel, which analysts had flagged as loss-making, are all on the list.

One store analysts had also flagged, Westfield Southland in Melbourne, is not on the list. Its future has not been explained.

Tom Kierath, head of consumer research at Barrenjoey, has said David Jones had “some wonderful sites” but too many of them, and that a buyer would likely want a handful of stores rather than the whole chain.

Who will buy what is left?

The administrators, McGrathNicol, say interest has been strong and are running a sale or recapitalisation. Expressions of interest are due within days. McGrathNicol will ask the NSW Supreme Court for more time to complete the process.

Why does it matter beyond David Jones?

A department store is often the biggest tenant in a shopping centre. Nineteen large, empty floors will land on landlords across the country in the new year, many of them in Westfield centres, at a time when consumer confidence sits at a four-year low.