, Australia

David Jones will be barely hurt by store shutdown

If indeed this happens.

According to Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DJS delivering on strategic agenda, execution risk subsides. DJS has proved successful in simultaneously launching its omni‑channel platform and rolling out the upgraded POS network across the Eastern states. 

Both projects will enable DJS to drive greater customer engagement and store productivity. The strategic agenda now extends to store optimisation and private label, two areas that have been proven successful across a number of international department store peers.

Here's more from CBA:

Store optimisation a natural extension of omni‑channel. DJS is looking to optimise floor space productivity though a number of measures, including the potential closure of six suboptimal located stores when their leases expire over the next five years.

This is signal that the balance of power is shifting back to the retailers from the landlords, particularly in B‑ and C‑grade locations. Should DJS decide to close stores, we suspect it is unlikely to lose a material amount of sales given they can be picked up by online and/or nearby stores.

Private label coming to a store near you. DJS announced a key focus area will be that of increasing private label sales (which currently are ~3.5% of sales) to be more in line with its international peers at ~10% of sales.

It is important to note that DJS’ private label strategy will be on homeware such as pots, pans and towels as opposed to fashion items that have higher risk of obsolescence.

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