David Jones reopens Carindale store with Australian first concept

David Jones is reopening in a major Brisbane shopping centre with an Australian-first concept store that makes shopping an experience and fights back against the online threat.

DAVID Jones will today reopen its Carindale store with an Australian-first concept featuring concierges, a cafe and even refreshments served in the fitting rooms.

In a bid to stem multimillion-dollar losses, the new store has downsized to one floor, but argues it will be better for customers.

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The 8000sq m new design by Nic Criticos entices customers with a cafe at the entrance, before they can walk through to a concierge service where shoppers can “dwell” and charge their phones, read books, click and collect, or have their gifts wrapped.

“The reason we downsized stores is because they’re too big to start with – you end up with a suburban store on two levels and to be perfectly honest, we struggled to fill the space,” David Jones Queensland manager Rowena Derksen said.

“It doesn’t need that much space, we had inefficiency of space.

“The (old) Carindale floor was a circular floor, you had walls in the middle that didn’t work very well and now it’s very open and square.”

Jessica Cavallaro at David Jones’ new Westfield Carindale store. Picture: Claudia Baxter/AAP

Ms Derksen said stores were not “built for people to sit and dwell” and the concierge aimed to change that.

“This is a space for them to do whatever they want to do,” she said.

“If the cafe gets busy we really envisage this being an overflow area.
“It feels very much like a hotel feel in some respects, with these concierge spaces.”

Ms Derksen said despite online being a “growing part of the business”, the retailer found customers still love to “come to beautiful spaces” and have hired an additional 25 people for the store to predominantly work in the new beauty department.

The new design also features a beauty concierge where customers can have a spa experience by beauty therapists, with the entire store having no individual check-outs within brand sections.

A personalised shopping suite in both the mens and women’s fitting rooms is available for bridal or special occasions where customers can be served refreshments.