Rent unpaid: iconic shopping destination ‘in breach’

Australia’s biggest shopping centre operator has detailed its exposure to an iconic retailer reportedly on the verge of collapse.

Westfield owner Scentre Group disclosed on Wednesday it had received $45 million in gross rent from David Jones in 2026 and the upmarket department store chain had only paid its rent up to September 30.

“They have not paid rent since September and therefore are in breach,” Scentre Group chief executive Elliott Rusanow said.

“We have made a generous offer to Anchorage Capital Partners that would have facilitated the continuation of David Jones trading and that offer has disappointingly been rejected by them.”

Citing multiple sources, the Australian Financial Review reported the directors of David Jones were expected to appoint insolvency and restructuring firm McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators on Thursday after talks with its landlords broke down.

A McGrathNicol representative told AAP on Wednesday afternoon no appointments had been made, so they could not comment.

A representative for David Jones has yet to respond to AAP’s request for comment.

Scentre Group said gross rent from David Jones represented about 1.8 per cent of the group’s total and it had $30 million in bank guarantees from the department store, equivalent to eight months of rent.

Seventeen of David Jones’ 38 locations across Australia and New Zealand are located in Westfield malls: 16 in Australia and one in Auckland.

David Jones has not yet filed its 2025/26 financial accounts, missing a deadline at the end of October, a spokesman for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission told AAP late on Tuesday.

The retailer posted a $95.5 million loss in 2024/2025, up from $74 million in 2023/24.

On Tuesday, a David Jones representative said the 188-year-old chain was continuing to operate all of its 38 stores.

“The company does not comment on speculation regarding potential store closures,” a spokesperson said.

Australian Retail Council chief executive Chris Rodwell said David Jones was one of the nation’s oldest and most celebrated brands.

“It has served generations of Australians and holds a special place in our retail history,” he said.

The pressures facing Australian retailers were not new and the council had been sounding the alarm for some time.

Like many retailers, the upper-mid-range department chain has struggled to stay relevant in the era of online shopping, fast fashion and ultra-cheap overseas imports.

David Jones had about 6730 employees as of March, according to workplace data platform Revelio Labs.

Welsh-born merchant David Jones opened the company’s first store in Sydney’s city centre in 1838, making it the world’s oldest continually operating department store still trading under its original name.