David Jones names Scott Fyfe as fifth CEO in six years

The department store’s fifth CEO in six years will face a growing balance sheet bleed.

David Jones faces the worst retail conditions in decades in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia’s lurch into a recession. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images.

Woolworths Holdings, the South African-based owner of up-market department store David Jones, has announced the appointment of Scott Fyfe as its new chief executive of the 182-year old department store.

Mr Fyfe, who for four years has run Woolworths Holdings’ Country Road Group, will take the reins at David Jones from October 26 and replaces Ian Moir, who has served as interim CEO for the past eight months.

Mr Fyfe joined Woolworths Holdings with 20 years of global retail experience at Marks & Spencer in the UK. Mr Moir, who led the $2.1bn takeover of David Jones in 2014, will be leaving the business following the completion of a comprehensive handover to Mr Fyfe in coming weeks.

He faces a number of big challenges at David Jones as its fifth CEO in six years including arresting the growing losses at the group in the face of the worst retail conditions in decades in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia‘s lurch into a recession.

Last month David Jones reported it had slumped to a loss of $33m for 2020 from a profit of $37m in 2019, as sales for David Jones in fiscal 2020 was down 6.4 per cent to $2.064bn.

It was announced earlier this year that Mr Moir would step down in February following years of underperformance by the retailer that have seen it rack up more than $500m in losses and book billions of dollars in impairments.

Woolworths Holdings announced to its local stock exchange in South Africa that Mr Moir would be replaced by Roy Bagattini as group CEO of the multinational company, with effect from February 17.

On Monday Mr Bagattini said Mr Fyfe had a proven track record of transformation and strategic delivery, having built a world class team to re-establish Country Road Group’s iconic brands Country Road, Trenery, Mimco, Witchery and Politix.

“At Country Road Group he has delivered market-leading online growth while optimising and repurposing store footprint. We look forward to Scott’s contribution and the application of his skills and expertise as we accelerate the turnaround of the David Jones business.”

He also thanked Mr Moir for his contribution to the group over more than 20 years, including his earlier leadership of Country Road Group and then as Woolworths Holdings Group CEO. On his appointment, Mr Fyfe said David Jones was one of Australia’s most iconic retail brands and backed by an exceptionally strong culture of commitment to quality and style.

“I look forward to leading the team and working with our many partners as we focus on the changing behaviours of our customers and delivering products and experiences for the future.

“I am extremely proud to have led the County Road Group team over the past four years, having together transformed the business into a leading omnichannel retailer. I have great confidence in the future growth of this business and look forward to working closely with each of the Country Road Group brands as we continue to leverage their exclusivity within David Jones.”

Woolworths Holdings said Mr Fyfe’s appointment followed an internal and external recruitment process, the timing of which was impacted by the need to ensure operational stability and focus in both David Jones and the Country Road Group as the business worked through the impacts of the pandemic.

A comprehensive recruitment process for a new CEO of Country Road Group is underway. To ensure continuity and support strategic implementation, Elle Roseby, Managing Director Country Road, and Simon Schofield, Managing Director Witchery and Trenery, will jointly lead the Country Road Group business reporting to Mr Bagattini.

There has been considerable churn of senior executives and management at David Jones since Woolworths Holdings bought the business six years ago, that had seen it go through four chief executives in five years before Mr Moir took control as interim CEO.

In February 2019 David Jones’ then CEO David Thomas suddenly quit the company in the wake of an allegation of discrimination against a staff member that went back to November. Shortly after that independent Australian-based directors Gail Kelly — a former Westpac chief executive and the first woman to run an Australian bank — and Patrick Allaway resigned from the board of David Jones’ parent company.