David Jones Eastland store to close indefinitely from January

The department store said it would be shifting its focus to prioritising flagship stores amid a business model restructure.

Aussie department store David Jones will close its doors at a major Melbourne shopping centre in just a few weeks.

David Jones’ Eastland store, located in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, will cease trading indefinitely as of January 14.

The move comes after the company experienced a downturn in sales across the city.

The department store’s Eastland location will close as of January 14. Picture: NCA NewsWire

A company spokesperson told NCA NewsWire the decision was made as a part of a company restructure that would see flagship stores prioritised.

“David Jones is focused on delivering world class products and experiences for our customers both online and in-store as Australia’s leading omnichannel retailer,” they said.

“Key to delivering this experience is our ongoing program of retail network optimisation, which includes refurbishing our stores, right-sizing and where necessary, consolidation of our footprint.”

In particular, the department store giant plans to invest significantly in meeting the “changing needs” of customers through its “rapidly growing omnichannel offering”.

Sales at the store reportedly dropped by almost 40 per cent in June. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“In line with this, we can confirm the closure of our Eastland store in January 2024,” the spokesperson said.

“Our strategy was shared widely with our team members and customers in January 2023, and we will continue to provide updates as we evolve and grow our business.

“With a long lead time on this closure, we continue to focus on prioritising transitional support for our team members and exploring redeployment opportunities.

“We look forward to welcoming our Eastland customers online and to our other nearby store locations.”

The closure comes after sales at the Ringwood store reportedly dropped by nearly 40 per cent in June this year.

The closure brings the total number of David Jones stores in Melbourne down to seven, while 42 are still operational across the country.

In March the department store giant was sold to Anchorage Capitol Partners for $100m, before which it was bought by Woolworths Holding Ltd for $2.1bn in 2014.

  

Originally published as David Jones Eastland store to close indefinitely from January