David Jones criticised on social media for ‘colourless’ Christmas window displays
DAVID Jones has been slammed for an annual Christmas display so dull it it’s been called a ‘tragic mistake’.
IT’S a fake snow covered, animatronic operated, cheesy music filled battle Royale to see which department store has the best Christmas windows. And with the early results in, families have given the thumbs down to David Jones’ bizarre black and white and distinctly unfestive display.
In contrast, crowds have been waiting in line to see arch rival Myer’s more traditional — and colourful — Christmas windows.
But DJs has insisted that while it’s windows may look grey right now, colour will appear as the days tick down to Christmas.
However, it could be too late for some, with an underwhelmed public voicing disapproval and labelling the store’s decorations “a tragic mistake”. One child was reportedly even left in tears due to the display’s disappointment.
The department store has dressed the windows of its flagship Elizabeth Street store in Sydney with classic displays of elves, Santa’s workshop and reindeer for decades.
The CBD David Jones XMas window this year is awful,what happened to the creative windows in past years which drew crowds
— Mick Attarian (@pmens72) November 9, 2015
I want a public inquiry into what happened to the David Jones Christmas windows this year.
— Steph Gardiner (@steph_gardiner) November 17, 2015
This year the windows, along with those at it’s Melbourne Bourke Street store, have been designed by colouring-in book artist James Gulliver Hancock. But, so far, they are lacking in actual colour. Monochrome seasonal scenes abound with the only splashes of colour coming from products dotted around the displays.
“Worst Christmas windows ever. Bah humbug,” wrote Blair Shaw on Facebook.
Anne Hastie wrote she was “So shocked and disappointed with the Christmas windows this year. David Jones, hardly anything Christmassy about them. Colourless colouring-in books and a few items draped over them then a small window with the nativity ... Please don’t be afraid to celebrate Christmas!”
In contrast, Myer’s windows on Melbourne’s Bourke Street are bathed in a multitude of shades, with queues to see the displays based on Australian children’s book, the Little Dog and the Christmas Wish. Families are guided through a streetscape of Melbourne in 1956, the year the city held the Olympic Games, with the dog looking for its owners at a miniature Flinders St station and tiny Hopetoun tea rooms.
Myer refused to be drawn on the merits of their rival’s windows but designer John Kerr, who created the displays, said “This was the perfect opportunity to present a uniquely Australian Christmas and celebrate the 60-year tradition of the Myer Christmas animated windows, and I am so pleased we have created a fitting replica of Marvellous Melbourne”.
A spokeswoman for David Jones said shoppers shouldn’t be too despondent at the lack of colour because “Mr Hancock will be will be appearing live in the Elizabeth Street windows, colouring in parts of his incredible display”.
The windows, “tell the story of the David Jones Christmas elves gathering gifts from all corners of the globe to bring back to Santa’s workshop,” she said, and also “showcase James’ unique and playful style, and reflect the fascination for colouring-in that appeals to both young and old.”
The store told Central that the windows were a “a new direction” and that they still hoped to “surprise and delight” customers.
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