The first time the once great retail empire David Jones collapsed, it was blamed on the economic difficulties of the day, a slowdown in spending across Sydney and poor management decisions.
asserted
it → collapse → Sydney
The iconic department store almost did not survive past its 22nd birthday.
asserted
store → survive → birthday
The company founder, David Jones, had retired, retreating to his recently purchased £12,000 mansion, Barncleuth, in Elizabeth Bay, and leaving the management of David Jones & Co to his partners and son-in-law.
asserted
founder → retire → law
But when David Jones collapsed in 1860 amid debts of more than £150,000, Jones came out of retirement to run the family business.
asserted
Jones → collapse → business
Historian Cathy Jones said Jones sold Barncleuth, among other assets, to help settle the company’s debts.
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Jones → say → debts
By the time he died in 1873, business was booming.
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business → die → 1873
Author Helen O’Neill said the David Jones family was “as close to aristocracy as Australia seemed to have at that time”.
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Australia → say → time
“They approached retail like theatre, and it was absolutely high-end theatre,” said O’Neill, whose book David Jones’ 175 Years was commissioned by the department store and published in 2013.
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book → approach → 2013
Sydney’s fortunes soared with the Jones’ then, over decades, survived several more cycles of bust, including two world wars, the Great Depression and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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fortunes → soar → wars
Throughout it all, one constant remained: David Jones, feeding, clothing and cheering generations of its families.
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Jones → remain → families
“David Jones had such history.
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Jones → have → history
It was a cultural icon; there’s no question about it.
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It → ’ → it
It had that sort of cachet.
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It → have → cachet
You can’t invent it and can’t buy it.
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You → invent → it
David Jones earned it,” said O’Neill.
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O’Neill → earn → it
But no amount of cachet could save David Jones this week, when it collapsed again, leaving 6000 jobs in limbo and shelves stripped bare as dozens of high-end brands such as Gucci, Oroton and Yves Saint Laurent abandoned the concession stands.
uncertain
dozens → save → stands
No descendants of Jones have been involved in running the retail giant since 1980s.
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descendants → involve → 1980s
“If David Jones were to collapse completely at this point, that would be one of the great tragedies and great losses,” said O’Neill.
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O’Neill → collapse → tragedies
That year, Jones’ grandson Charles Lloyd Jones opened the flagship “Wonder Store” on Elizabeth Street.
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grandson → open → Street
Crucially, it was across the road from the newly opened St James Station.
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it → open → Station
Joining David Jones in the centre of Sydney were the grand emporiums of other retail giants, named after the wealthy families that controlled them: Anthony Hordern & Sons, Grace Bros, Mark Foy’s, Waltons and Marcus Clark.
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that → join → them
When the David Jones men’s store opened on Market Street about a decade later, then prime minister Billy Hughes did the official honours, declaring it “a magnificent temple of commerce”.
“Charles Lloyd Jones brought the business acumen of this family and his own artistic mind to the job, and that was a recipe for innovation,” said associate professor Mark Ian Jones, a design historian at the University of New South Wales, who recently won an Australian Research Council grant for a three-year study of the cultural dimensions of David Jones.
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who → open → Jones
Under Lloyd Jones’ leadership, David Jones’ famous houndstooth print was introduced, window dressing was treated as a key part of its advertising, and the mail order catalogue offered country people the glamour and sophistication of David Jones.
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catalogue → introduce → Jones
“Unknown to themselves, they were creating a cultural institution,” said David Jones’ former national head of public relations, Skye Leckie.
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head → create → relations
“People would go there to see Santa Claus for the first time, get their school uniform, see the flower show, the fashion parades, the Christmas windows or even a dinner plate presentation by Lord Wedgwood.
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People → go → Wedgwood
These were things that brought families together throughout the year.
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that → bring → year
”
Staged events that drew a crowd, rather than just shoppers, have been a feature of the David Jones business for most of its history, particularly during retail booms like the 1950s.
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that → stag → 1950s
That same year, the first international exposition was held at the Elizabeth Street store, called Sweden at David Jones, which became an almost annual international showcase of the best of design from around the world.
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which → hold → world
As part of the celebrations to mark the 120th anniversary, an Indian elephant called Eddie was brought into the store to sign autographs, 1440 pigeons were released from the awning on Elizabeth Street to represent each month of the company’s existence, there was also a treasure hunt worth £5700, and level five was given over to a display of kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and black cockatoos.
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level → mark → kangaroos
“It wasn’t so much about selling things to people but bringing new ideas to Australia, and using these events and international expositions as a type of window to the rest of the world,” said Mark Ian Jones.
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Jones → sell → world
“And it was there for all Sydneysiders, not just the people who could afford the high fashions.”
uncertain
who → afford → fashions
“David Jones was doing this at a time when we didn’t actually have design museums.
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we → do → museums
Funding it all was a consumer market dominated by a handful of family-owned department stores.
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market → fund → stores
David Jones was billed as the high-end option.
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Jones → bill → option
“In the 1950s roughly half of all metropolitan retail spending occurred within a few blocks in the city.
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half → occur → city
So department stores had this enormous market share,” said associate professor Matthew Bailey, a retail historian at Macquarie University.
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Bailey → have → University
Leckie recalls the thrill of working at David Jones as a management trainee in the early 1980s.
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Leckie → recall → 1980s
At the time, the managing director, Brian Walsh, used a “mountain of marble” as part of a makeover of the ground floor and turned level six into a haven called Seventh Heaven.
“You had your own shopper, and they would have a model come out in the latest couture designs while you had a glass of champagne.
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you → manage → champagne
It was something we’d never seen before in Australia,” Leckie said.
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Leckie → see → Australia
Sally Burleigh recalls similar grandeur and a sense of magic when she took on a similar role to Leckie, helping to launch the careers of stars like Megan Gale, Miranda Kerr, and Sass & Bide.
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she → recall → Gale
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
