The Sydney private equity firm wanted to close David Jones stores and take the brand upmarket. Three years later, the dream has collapsed.
In late February 2023, Anchorage Capital Partners founder Phillip Cave sat across the table from Scentre chief executive Elliott Rusanow with a simple pitch: trust us with upmarket department store chain David Jones.
With 17 stores inside Scentre’s Westfield malls around Australia and New Zealand, David Jones’ fate mattered to the landlord.
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Property giants that operate some of Sydney’s biggest shopping centres are scrambling to decide how they will fill the spaces vacated by the collapsed retailer.
After 188 years, David Jones announced it would close 19 stores, most of them in Sydney's outer suburbs.
See the full list of store closures.
Talks about the department stores financial troubles and restructuring scenarios started months ago, a report to creditors says.
