David Jones is to SLASH the size of its department stores as its profits nosedive during Australia's retail apocalypse
- Struggling retailer's half-year profit plummeted by more than 50 per cent
- Reduction in store size is part of bigger goal to cut floor space by 20 per cent
- Number of store closures involved is yet to be revealed
Department store giant David Jones plans to slash 31,000 square metres of floor space in the next two years as profits continue to plummet.
The struggling South African-owned retailer's half-year profit nosedived by more than 50 per cent to $20million in the second half of 2019.
The reduction in store size is part of a longer-term goal to cut its 486,000 square metres of floor space by 20 per cent within five years.
The number of store closures it would involve is yet to be revealed.
David Jones' half-year profit nosedived by more than 50 per cent in the second half of 2019
Acting chief executive Ian Moir said the recent national bushfire disaster has had a devastating impact in the last 'sad and difficult' few months.
Poor wage growth, record-low interest rates and weak consumer spending were blamed for driving profits down.
'(These are the) toughest conditions I've ever seen,' Mr Moir said.
'Challenging economic conditions in both markets, with the additional burden of power outages in South Africa, and bushfires affecting footfall in Australia, further impacted trade.'
The news came on the same day Colette by Colette Hayman announced it will close a quarter of its stores within weeks after the popular handbag retailer went into administration earlier this month.
Acting chief executive Ian Moir said the recent national bushfire disaster has had a devastating impact in the last 'sad and difficult' few months
Earlier, Mr Moir said he'd made inroads on reducing the size of the chain's stores since vowing to 'get aggressive' with landlords.
'We're reaching good agreements with our key landlords. I think there's a realisation that retail is changing, and we've all got to face into that change,' Mr Moir told the Sydney Morning Herald.
'There's been good debate on how we reduce space where we need to, good debate about how we come to the party together on capital contribution. It's a good robust discussion that we're having with all of our landlords.'
Australia's retail apocalypse has also claimed retailers Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David and Napoleon Perdis in the last year.
Experts have claimed consumers are now turning to online shopping over bricks-and-mortar stores.
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David Jones acting CEO Ian Moir said the devastating bushfires have driven profits down
Australian retail growth is at its worst level since the early 1990s recession and international giants like Amazon and Aldi threaten to make life even more difficult for local brands.
Harris Scarfe, founded in 1849, took consumers by surprise when it entered administration in December and is now about to close at least 21 stores.
Days later the country's sixth-largest wine company McWilliam's Wine, which has been around for 140 years, announced it had appointed voluntary administrators.
Popular video game chain EB Games was next, with the business announcing the closure of 19 stores across Australia in early January.
Major fashion chain Bardot also announced plans to close 58 stores nationwide before March.
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