Alyce Tran was shocked at the David Jones news. Picture: Instagram
The boss of a popular brand stocked in David Jones stores has revealed her shock at the iconic retailer’s collapse, saying she never saw it coming.
Homewares brand In The Roundhouse, led by Alyce Tran, has been a mainstay at David Jones stores since Tran got a foot in the door 10 years ago.
Despite years of profit losses and whispers of 188-year-old retailer’s demise, Tran said she never believed David Jones would fold.
David Jones entered voluntary administration last week, putting 6000 staff at risk as more than half the retailer’s stores face closure in a radical restructure to salvage the business.
The brand had already shrunk to just 38 stores after huge profit losses, a shrinking consumer base, inability to pay suppliers and top brands simply pulling stock.
Vendors were quick to exit David Jones following news of its collapse, with images from Victoria’s Southland store showing large sheets covering products as vendors pulled their stock.
OPINION:How David Jones signed its own death warrant
Alyce Tran was shocked at the David Jones news. Picture: Instagram
The loss of stock comes amid warnings for Aussies holding David Jones gift cards to spend them immediately or risk losing them entirely.
Finder data reveals Australian are sitting on $1.74 billion in unused gift cards and the average person has $242 of unspent vouchers sitting in their wallets.
Despite the sudden collapse last week, Tran said she was holding onto hope David Jones would survive.
“I love David Jones and I am devastated by the news that has come out … they really stopped me in my tracks,” she told the Daily Mail.
“It’s not great news but I didn’t think it would end … Hopefully it’s not ending too soon.”
Tran insisted she had never had issues with David Jones paying her despite reports the brand had fallen behind on rent and vendor payments.
‘We’ve never had any issues working with David Jones,” she said.
“Before this whole thing started happening, people would ask me if they paid on time and I’m like, “Yes, they absolutely do”.”
INSIDE THE FALL OF DAVID JONES
The situation had gotten so bad that David Jones owner, Anchorage Capital Partners, was believed to be quietly shopping the brand around to potential buyers in a bid to offload the ailing business.
It is believed Anchorage’s asking price is $100 million, The Australian reports, a sum that would allow the private equity firm to claw back what it paid for David Jones back in 2022.
Anchorage likely believed it picked up David Jones for a bargain four years ago, having snapped up the retailer from South African- based Woolworths Holdings at a massive discount to its 2014 price tag of $2.2 billion.
News of the business being placed into administration comes as reports emerge David Jones hasn’t paid rent on its Westfield retail spaces since September.
DJs has 17 locations at Westfield sites, with the shopping centre giant revealing David Jones was officially “in breach” of its leasing contracts.
OPINION:How David Jones signed its own death warrant
David Jones chief executive Erica Berchtold has a huge hurdle to overcome to turn the brand around.
The collapse and a whispers of a sudden fire sale by Anchorage follows a string of staggering losses for David Jones in recent years.
David Jones finally released its 2025 books to the public in April and it made for some grim reading as the retailer revealed a huge $95 million loss.
The overdue report – five months late – revealed David Jones suffered a pre-tax loss in 2025 of $95.45 million following the $74.12 million loss recorded in 2024.
Despite the doom and gloom, David Jones, back in April, had predicted an optimistic and positive start to 2026.
But that sentiment seems to be dying fast along with David Jones’ future in Australia.
While David Jones tried to pin the 2025 losses on significant store refurbishments that disrupted trading and floor space across a number of outlets, it is an excuse that failed to acknowledge bigger problems lurking within the business.
David Jones has been haunted for months by reports of payment delays to suppliers.
Luxury brands Gucci, Chanel and Christian Dior have left David Jones altogether.
And they are just the tip of the iceberg.
Other major brands like Country Road, Witchery and Mimco are removing hundreds of concession stands from David Jones sites starting in February.
Huge stores but no customers … David Jones has been losing money for years.
The departures come as a system failure just days ago prevented customers from using gift cards at David Jones stores, sparking widespread panic the business’ collapse was imminent.
While it has since been confirmed the issue was the result of a global outage to the third-party platform that handles David Jones’ gift card services, experts have urged shoppers to use their gift cards immediately or risk losing them in the collapse.
Despite the vultures circling, David Jones had continued to put up an optimistic front.
“David Jones is continually evolving its brand portfolio to ensure it remains relevant to its customers and supports the INSPIRE30 reset strategy,” a David Jones spokesman said of the departing brands.
“As part of a review of the portfolio, trading terms and business model, we are working collaboratively with brand partners about an adjustment in their exposure across our store network.
“It is our intention that our brand partners will maintain a presence across the network with a focus on the locations with the strongest potential for growth.
“David Jones continues to create new opportunities for our partners as well as expanding new brands and growing our exclusive and private label offer.”
Will 188-years of history come to an end for David Jones?
Experts agree there is only one way forward if David Jones is to survive – rapid store closures to reduce overheads and a renewed focus on digital sales.
It is a move that would send shockwaves through Australia’s commercial property sector and it may already have begun.
David Jones closed two NSW stores in January – Castle Towers and Tuggerah – after more than 30 years at each location.
“They are very much on the precipice,” retail analyst Barry Urquhart told 7NEWS, warning that “(further) closure and disposal are very real possibilities.”
“Consumers have moved from being smart shoppers to discount shoppers to extreme discount shoppers.”
The rise of online discount marketplaces like SHEIN and Temu have been slowly hammering the nails into David Jones’ coffin for years.
Now just three options lie before David Jones and it’s 188-year legacy: Adapt and survive, find a new owner with new ideas or collapse and be consigned to the history books of Aussie retail.