High-end store boss David Jones features an elaborate redesign of his Melbourne flagship store, with live mushrooms and mealworms eating polystyrene as part of a revived spring flower show, and luxury concessions, to lure shoppers into the city’s CBD. .
Scott Fyfe says foot traffic is still around 15% below pre-pandemic levels at flagship branch retail outlets in Sydney and Melbourne, yet confident shoppers will be eagerly spending the spring grocery shopping season and Christmas holidays.
My Fyfe says the latest phase of its $50 million refurbishment, which includes a Tempus Two bar, a destination for sunglasses and concessions for luxury brands Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, will push consumers to return to Melbourne’s flagship that has been crushed by the pandemic. Closures
“We want other people to go back to CBD. This is where Melbourne’s culture and spirit lies,” M. Fyfe told The Australian Financial Review.
David Jones CEO Scott Fyfe is backing the Flower Show for the first time in 17 years. Eamon Gallagher
The facelift marks the finishing touch of this phase of the Bourke Street assignment that began in 2021. The first two stages brought the luxury women’s clothing and accessories floor, and a consolidated menswear branch following the closure of the Bourke Street menswear store, which sold for $121 million last year to pay off debt.
We have a very strong momentum this time compared to last year. But if we take a look at the trends of 2018-19, we’re ahead of that so far as well, but we’re not complacent,” he said. M. Fyfe.
“I think Black Friday and Cyber Monday are going to be great. We have more fashion. We have more news. We believe that other people will actually spend on themselves and this Christmas.
Fyfe said that while retail outlets in Doncaster and Chadstone malls were doing well thanks to more localized shopping, CBD needed a boost, and that component explains why the spring flower display is being introduced for the first time in 17 years.
David Jones worked with Dutch designer, eco-warrior and recovery contractor Joost Bakker at his facility. The front windows have live fungi developing and mealworms that feed on the Styrofoam (polystyrene) waste discovered in the packages. Bakker spent more than a year designing the flower. facility, which is located in a zero-waste ecosystem and includes plenty of species of local flora and fauna.
“I think our buildings can be a habitat, those plants, our cities can be an ecosystem and that’s what I’m looking to do with this facility here to get other people interested in biodiversity, creating amazing places to live,” he said. . Bakker.
Bakker said all the plants and flowers on display came from around Melbourne: “The selected Banksias came from Dean’s Marsh (136km away), but this is the farthest place. “
Melbourne Mayor Sally Capp said retail in Melbourne is a key driving force of the economic recovery, contributing more than $2 billion to local gross product and providing jobs for more than 20,000 people.
“[Jones’] primary redevelopment will attract more shoppers to the city, which will have a massive ripple effect for other merchants,” he said.
The iconic store turns 185 next year, so Mr Fyfe says there will still be reasons to celebrate Boxing Day, even though inflation hit two-decade highs and is expected to peak at 7. 8% by the end of this year.
He pointed to David Jones’ wealthier consumers and said gross margins were holding steady as there were fewer discounts and more full-price sales.
“We invest in emerging brands and pillars to ensure we have the most productive customer offer and retention. We are well aware of the headwinds ahead,” he said.
Fyfe sees a structural replacement with more people returning to retail outlets and a slight slowdown in online shopping, but “nothing worries us. “
David Jones operates 43 retail stores in Australia and one in Auckland.
Both the U. S. and the U. S. U. S. and U. K. officials have noted a dramatic slowdown in online spending, with Walmart cutting average fulfillment staff this week, following the layoff of nearly 100,000 Amazon workers in the June quarter.
This week, the CommBank Household Spending Intentions Index (HSI) fell in September, the first monthly drop since the Reserve Bank began raising interest rates in April. CBA chief economist Stephen Halmarick said in a note that HSI, which combines card payment data, data on loan programs and Google Trends studies, is beginning to show the effects on families of competitive interest rate increases.
After several years of disappointing results, David Jones made a major change in functionality in the part of June 2021-22, when COVID-19 restrictions eased and shoppers returned to stores. The operating income source for the six months ended June 26 increased by 86%. , however, overall profit for the year fell 0. 6% to $83. 7 million. Operating profit fell to $161 million in 2015.
Fyfe has been the longest-serving lead executive at the high-end chain for two years since South Africa’s parent company, Woolworths Holdings Ltd, bought the organization in 2014 for $2. 1 billion, some time after Myer and David Jones walked out of merger talks.
However, this has been a complicated path with billions in write-offs and millions in losses over the years, compounded by the closure of stores due to the pandemic, leading to additional hypotheses about an imaginable merger with Myer.
Woolworths spent about $700 million on store renovations, adding about $400 million spent on the David Jones Elizabeth Street site, which he sold and leased to pay off debts.
At the next level of the redesign, Woolworths will offer food and completely revamp its attractive Bourke Street basement segment, which was underinvested in for years, but which is a must for David Jones.
Mr. Fyfe – a former Marks executive
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