David Jones (retailer)

David Jones
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1838 (1838),
Sydney, Australia
FounderDavid Jones
Headquarters
Two Melbourne Quarter, 697 Collins Street, Docklands, Victoria
,
Number of locations
39
Area served
Australia, New Zealand
Key people
Scott Fyfe (CEO)
ProductsCosmetics, Fashion, Homewares, Furniture, Electrical, Food
RevenueIncreaseA$2.2 billion (2016)[1]
IncreaseA$170 million (2016)[1]
Number of employees
7200 (2014)[2]
ParentAnchorage Capital Partners
Websitewww.davidjones.com

David Jones Pty Ltd, trading as David Jones (colloquially DJs), is an Australian luxury department store. The brand was owned from 2014 to 2023 by the South African retail group Woolworths South Africa.[3] In December 2022, David Jones was sold to private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners for approximately $100m.

David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh merchant and future politician, after he emigrated to Australia, and is the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name.[4][5]

In 1980, the Adelaide Steamship Company acquired a substantial interest in David Jones, culminating in a complete takeover. The recession of the early 1990s caused the department store assets to be floated as "David Jones Limited". For the next two decades, the company went through turbulent times, eventually leading to discussions of a merger with Myer, and then, in 2014, a takeover by South African retail group Woolworths Holdings Limited. In 2016, Woolworths sold the iconic 1938 Market Street store and announced the relocation of DJ's head office to Richmond, Victoria.[6]

It has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1979 to 2004.

David Jones Limited currently has 39 stores located throughout most of the Australian states and territories (except Tasmania and the Northern Territory). David Jones' main competitor is the larger, upmarket department store chain Myer. On 28 July 2016, David Jones opened its first New Zealand store in Wellington after buying Kirkcaldie & Stains,[7] and on 21 November 2019, opened its first Auckland store in the newly developed Westfield Newmarket.[8]

  1. ^ a b Sales report. "Preliminary Group Results announcement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  2. ^ "WHL 2014 Integrated Report". Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. ^ Kelly, Ross (9 April 2014). "Australia's David Jones Gets Takeover Bid From Woolworths". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference DJref was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Company History, Answers.com. Retrieved on 4 July 2009.
  6. ^ Carolyn Cummins (8 August 2016). "David Jones' iconic Sydney Market Street store sold to Westfield owner Scentre Group". Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. ^ Catherine Harris, James Weir & Talia Shadwell (4 June 2015). "Kirkcaldie & Stains department store to become David Jones". stuff.co.nz.
  8. ^ "David Jones opens first Auckland store, along with second Westfield Newmarket site". 16 October 2023.

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