Australia's David Jones collapses into administration after 188 years as landlord talks fail
The 188-year-old Australian department store chain has entered voluntary administration, with McGrathNicol appointed as administrators and FTI Consulting as receivers, after talks with its biggest landlord broke down and rent went unpaid since September.
Australia's oldest department store, David Jones, has collapsed into voluntary administration after 188 years of trading, ending a long decline that accelerated when crisis talks with its biggest landlord broke down.
The boards of David Jones and its owner, Anchorage Capital Partners, placed the group into voluntary administration on Thursday, with McGrathNicol appointed as voluntary administrators. Its main financier then installed FTI Consulting as receivers and managers, giving FTI day-to-day control of the business while it is restructured.
The stores will keep trading for now. The company's 38 stores across Australia and New Zealand, including 37 in Australia and one in Auckland, will continue to operate under the control of the receivers while operations are reviewed, though closures are expected to be on the table ahead of the all-important holiday trading season.
Chief executive Erica Berchtold said the company had a well-developed plan to reset the business and would work with the administrators, receivers and secured lender to pursue it. FTI senior managing director Christopher Hill, one of three FTI executives appointed as receivers, said voluntary administration and receivership would provide breathing space and an opportunity to restructure.
The immediate trigger was rent. Westfield owner Scentre Group, David Jones' biggest landlord with 17 of its stores in its shopping centres, said the retailer had not paid rent since September, leaving it in breach of its leases. The company had paid $45 million in rent for the first nine months of the year to 30 September, and its landlords hold $45 million in bank guarantees that could be used against unpaid rent.
Behind the rent dispute sits years of losses. David Jones posted a $95.5 million loss for 2024/25, worse than the $74 million loss recorded in 2023/24, as shoppers drifted online, costs rose and suppliers and luxury brands pulled back. Reports in recent months described payment delays to suppliers, a system failure that briefly stopped customers using gift cards, and the departure of brands including Gucci, Chanel and Christian Dior.
Anchorage Capital Partners bought David Jones in 2023 for $100 million from South Africa's Woolworths Holdings, a fraction of the $2.2 billion Woolworths had paid in 2014. The private equity owner has now lost operational control after failing to turn the retailer around, and administrators will immediately seek offers for a recapitalisation of the business or its sale as a going concern.
Thousands of jobs hang in the balance. David Jones employs more than 6,000 staff, with workplace data putting the figure at about 6,730 as of March, and unions have warned that a large number of stores could close. One report suggested as many as 26 of the 38 stores could shut, leaving a core network of about 12, though no closure list has been confirmed.
The collapse is also a warning for Australian retail more broadly. David Jones' larger rival Myer lost $276 million in the 2026 financial year, its second-worst result in more than a century, underlining how far the traditional department store model has been squeezed by online shopping, discount rivals and cautious consumers.
David Jones was founded in Sydney in 1838 by Welsh-born merchant David Jones, making it the world's oldest continually operating department store still trading under its original name. Whether that name survives will now depend on whether administrators can find fresh capital or a buyer willing to back Berchtold's reset plan before the Christmas trading period decides the fate of the remaining stores.
Figures in this post, including the $95.5 million loss for 2024/25 and the 38-store network, were checked at 06:22 PKT on 05 November 2026 against reporting by AAP and other Australian outlets on 5 November 2026.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
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