David Jones to meet change head-on, says Woolworths Holdings chief Ian Moir

WOOLWORTHS Holdings chief Ian Moir says there is no hiding from a “tsunami” of change pummelling the retail sector and businesses that do not confront it head on will “wither and die”.

Woolworths Holdings chief Ian Moir with Jessica Gomes and Jesinta Campbell.

WOOLWORTHS Holdings chief Ian Moir says there is no hiding from a “tsunami” of change pummelling the retail sector and businesses that do not confront it head on will “wither and die”.

The head of the South ­African retail conglomerate that owns David Jones also says it will continue to spend “what we need to” in order to build a department store chain that will thrive over the long-term. “We are in a very changing world,” Mr Moir said.

“The customer is changing, we have a tsunami of technology, there is increased competition and competition is globalising. The business models need to change.

“We are right in the middle of it and if you don’t change, if you don’t recognise it, don’t ­accept it, don’t change your business, adapt to the new changing world, you’re not going to ­succeed and as a ­retailer, going forward, you may not even be here.

“You either change or you wither and die and we are not going to wither and die.”

Mr Moir was speaking to Business Daily after David Jones revealed it had suffered a 25 per cent slide in profit to $127 million for the year to June.

It was the slimmest haul since Woolworths bought the nation’s oldest department store for $2.4 billion in 2014. Mr Moir said David Jones had continued to win share in a market undergoing massive change.

David Jones will spend $300 million in the next few years moving its head office to Melbourne, expanding its ­flagship Sydney store and pushing deeper into the ­gourmet food sector.

It will relaunch its loyalty card program this year, combining the David Jones customer database with that of sister fashion chain Country Road, as well as overhauling its website.

“We will do the right things for the short term but more ­importantly we will do the right things for the long term and spend the money that we need to,” Mr Moir said.

[e-mail]