When David Jones entered voluntary administration, I felt a sadness I hadn’t expected.
asserted
I → enter → sadness
I’ve shopped there for more than 30 years, so the possibility of losing it felt personal.
asserted
possibility → shop → it
Yet for the past couple of years, I’ve walked through its stores ready to buy and left empty-handed.
asserted
I → walk → stores
That’s the contradiction I can’t shake.
asserted
I → ’ → ?
How does a retailer with 188 years of history end up here while customers like me are still trying to hand it our money?
asserted
customers → end → money
I want contemporary clothes and beautiful shoes.
asserted
I → want → clothes
I have no interest in dressing as though my best years are behind me.
asserted
years → have → me
But increasingly, I walk through the fashion floors and feel as though the store is looking past me, towards a younger woman it would rather attract.
asserted
it → walk → woman
Meanwhile, I am the customer still walking in.
asserted
I → walk → ?
I am the one choosing David Jones when I could buy the same thing elsewhere.
uncertain
I → choose → thing
Yet the more I look, the more I wonder why so little of what it stocks seems chosen with me in mind.
asserted
it → look → mind
The premium fit-outs look beautiful.
asserted
outs → look → ?
But the more polished the store becomes, the harder I find it to see where I belong in it.
asserted
I → become → it
And the designer labels alone no longer give shoppers a reason to walk in.
asserted
labels → give → reason
Once, David Jones gave me access to labels that were hard to find elsewhere.
asserted
that → give → labels
Now many brands have their own boutiques, often in the same shopping centre, with wider ranges available online too.
asserted
ranges → have → centre
Why buy a designer shoe at David Jones when the brand’s own store, just outside its doors, has more choice?
asserted
store → buy → choice
Even when I find something in a brand’s boutique, I will often go back and purchase it from DJs because I have confidence that if something goes wrong, it will stand behind the sale.
asserted
it → find → sale
But I wonder whether David Jones assumed younger shoppers shared the loyalty of longstanding customers like me.
asserted
shoppers → wonder → me
I asked 10 people I know, all under 45, whether they shopped the same way.
asserted
they → ask → 45
None did.
asserted
None → do → ?
They generally started online, went directly to the brand and visited its store if necessary.
asserted
They → start → store
David Jones barely entered the conversation.
asserted
Jones → enter → conversation
But their answers made me wonder whether DJs was courting customers who had already learnt to shop without it, while overlooking those still walking through its doors.
asserted
who → make → doors
Since COVID-19, my shopping habits have changed too.
asserted
habits → change → COVID-19
I now make most of my David Jones purchases online, and many of my store visits involve returning something.
asserted
many → make → something
But I still browse, and sometimes I want to see and touch what I’m buying before I commit.
asserted
I → browse → what
A couple of staff members told me that, on some days they handle more returns than purchases.
asserted
they → tell → purchases
It does, however, raise a question: what should those expensive floors now deliver that a website cannot?
asserted
website → raise → what
If more buying happens online, each store needs to give us a reason to stay and shop.
asserted
store → happen → reason
That makes me question whether David Jones needs 38 locations.
asserted
Jones → make → locations
I would rather see fewer exceptional stores, anchored by flagships worth making a trip to.
asserted
I → see → trip
Individual store economics must determine that decision.
asserted
economics → determine → decision
But shouldn’t the ambition be to make David Jones a destination again?
asserted
Jones → make → ?
I know from running cafes how punishing business costs can be.
asserted
costs → know → cafes
But difficult conditions do not remove leadership’s responsibility to understand the customer.
asserted
conditions → remove → customer
From what I can see, successive owners and management teams failed to make David Jones sufficiently distinctive as shopping habits changed around it.
asserted
habits → see → it
Stocking desirable brands was no longer enough when those brands could reach shoppers themselves.
uncertain
brands → stock → shoppers
I hope the administrators and receivers can secure its future.
asserted
administrators → hope → future
Jobs and suppliers’ livelihoods are at stake, alongside landmarks that hold a place in Australian life.
asserted
that → hold → life
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
