Australia’s oldest department store, David Jones, folds after 188 years

David Jones, Australia's oldest department store chain, has gone into voluntary administration, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

It comes after years of financial struggles for the 188-year-old retailer - known locally as DJs - as customers desert traditional shops for online shopping.

David Jones's physical and online stores will continue to operate while receivers FTI Consulting review the company, said voluntary administrators McGrathNicol.

"David Jones is an iconic company and so many Australians have stories and memories of visiting DJ's stores," said its CEO Erica Berthold, adding the brand has a "well-developed plan" to "reset the business for the future".

Berthold thanked "customers, our team members and our partners for their continued support of David Jones through this period".

David Jones employs about 6,000 staff and has 38 physical stores, with 17 of those in Westfield shopping centres.

Hours before the board voted to go into administration, Scentre - which owns Westfield - said the retailer had not paid its rent for October and was "therefore in breach" of its tenancy agreement.

"We understand the current retail trading environment, rising costs, a significant and outdated retail footprint, and supply chain challenges have led to this point," said Christopher Hill from receivers FTI Consulting.

By appointing administrators and receivers, David Jones will get "breathing space" and a chance to restructure the business, Hill said.

For many Australians, David Jones - and its trademark black-and-white houndstooth design - represented luxury.

But its collapse signalled the "death knell" for the department store format, said Jana Bowden, who teaches marketing at Macquarie University's Business School.

"It was once the epitome of glamour shopping in Australia - the Aussie version of Harrods," she said, "a place you would go to see and be a part of the glitz and glamour, where you could marvel at all the premium luxury labels, and feel like you'd made it."

Visiting the flagship city stores in Sydney and Melbourne was also a ritual for many Australian families, especially to see the festive Christmas window displays.

"People would travel from hours away from the city just to see those windows and experience the magic," Bowden said, but in recent years, the brand had lost its shine.

"The city stores have retained their upper end airs and graces, but the suburban stores leave a lot to be desired – they're mundane, they lack excitement and there's definitely no glitz," she said.

During Queen Elizabeth II's first visit to Sydney in 1954, the then-27-year-old monarch attended a banquet dinner on the seventh floor of the Elizabeth St store, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.