According to the new CEO of South African Woolworths Holdings, parent of the Australian David Jones department store group, the department store chain is “overstored”. Plans are being accelerated to shrink the network by around 20% as losses deepen in the covid crisis. Roy Bagattini, who came from Levi’s and recently took over from Ian Moir in South Africa, said that as many as 10 stores could close. In the last year, sales at David Jones fell 6.4% to A$ 2.06 bn, with an operating loss of A$ 33 m after last year’s profit of $ 37 m. Unlike other stores, David Jones chose to trade through the lockdowns in March and April. Roy Bagattini commented on the challenging retail environment in general and in Australia in particular, but affirmed his belief in future of the department store concept as long as it remained relevant and offered a retail experience.

Online sales doubled for the year and account for 14.2% of David Jones total sales.

Woolworths' Australian fashion stablemate Country Road Group (CRG), which includes the brands Country Road, Trenery, Witchery, Mimco and Politix, fared slightly better than the department stores, with its operating profit staying in the black at A$ 40 m, though that was still down 60% on last year.