The numbers behind David Jones: $2.1 billion in 2014, about $100 million in 2023, and 19 stores gone by Christmas

The number that explains David Jones best is not 19 stores or 6,000 staff. It is 21: the price paid for the business in 2014 was 21 times the price paid for it nine years later.

In 2014 Woolworths Holdings of South Africa paid $2.1 billion for the department store. About nine years later Anchorage Capital Partners bought it for roughly $100 million, a fraction of the earlier price. On 5 November 2026 the business went into voluntary administration, with McGrathNicol as administrators, and its secured lender, Hilco Capital, appointed FTI Consulting as receivers. On Wednesday the receivers announced an “urgent” overhaul: 19 of the 38 stores will close, most expected to stop trading by the end of the year.

How old is David Jones?

David Jones, a Welsh merchant, opened his Sydney store in 1838. That makes the business 188 years old, older than Victoria as a colony and older than Australia’s gold rushes. It is often described as the oldest department store in the world still trading under its original name. Its Elizabeth Street flagship in Sydney opened in 1927. By 1959 it had eight stores.

How did a $2.1 billion company become a $100 million one?

The table tells it in five lines.

| Year | What happened | The number | |—|—|—| | 1838 | David Jones opens in Sydney | 1 store | | 2014 | Woolworths Holdings (South Africa) buys it | $2.1 billion | | 2016 | Annual revenue | $2.2 billion | | 2023 | Anchorage Capital Partners takes over | about $100 million | | FY2025 | Pre-tax loss, year to 29 June | $95.5 million |

The losses were growing, not shrinking. The pre-tax loss of $95.5 million in the year to June 2025, shown in accounts filed with the corporate regulator in April 2026, followed a $74.1 million loss the year before. That is a deterioration of more than $21 million in a single year.

The final pressure point was rent. Westfield owner Scentre Group said David Jones had not paid rent since September. Department stores are often the biggest single tenant in a shopping centre, so unpaid rent at that scale moves quickly from a problem to a crisis.

Where are the 19 stores that will close?

The list covers five states, the ACT and New Zealand. New South Wales loses the most.

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

For Perth the closure of Hay Street Mall matters most. It is one of the anchors of the city’s main shopping strip, and its closure will leave a large space in the centre of the city.

How many jobs are at stake?

David Jones employs about 6,000 people. The receivers have not said how many jobs go with the 19 stores, and staff consultation runs for seven days from Wednesday. On VNN’s rough sums, an even spread would put about 158 people in each store, but flagships carry far more staff than suburban stores, so the real split is uneven. The receivers said the closures would have a “material impact” on many team members and asked that respect be shown to them.

How does it compare with Myer?

Myer, the larger rival, is still trading, but its numbers show the same pressure. In the year to 25 July 2026 it owned 56 stores and recorded total sales of $4.09 billion, up 0.7 per cent on a comparable basis. It also recorded a statutory net loss of $276.5 million, worse than the $205 million loss a year earlier. Myer blamed higher fuel prices driven by the Middle East conflict, three interest rate rises in 2026, slow income growth and a weaker housing market.

Put the two chains together and the picture is stark. Between them they ran 94 department stores this year. If the closures go ahead and nothing else changes, that falls to 75 by Christmas.

What does it mean for shoppers?

The stores are still trading for now. Customers holding gift cards, lay-bys or orders are waiting on guidance from the receivers. In an insolvency, customers are usually unsecured creditors, ranked behind secured lenders such as Hilco. The receivers have not yet set closing dates for individual stores.

Not everyone has walked away. McGrathNicol partner Matthew Hutton said there had been an “extraordinary level of inbound interest” in the business. A buyer could keep the name and the 19 remaining stores alive, which would make David Jones a smaller store with a 188-year-old name.