David Jones Administration Puts Perth Retail Jobs at Risk; Carousel Store Tipped to Close

David Jones went into voluntary administration on 5 November 2026, putting jobs at its Perth stores at risk, and its Carousel store in Cannington is among five reported as likely to close. Staff are still being paid while receivers review the business.

What happened at David Jones?

The David Jones Group entered voluntary administration on Thursday 5 November 2026. McGrathNicol's creditor page lists Jason Preston, Shaun Fraser, Jacinta Neilsen and Matthew Hutton as the administrators.

The same page lists a second appointment. Joanne Dunn, David McGrath and Christopher Hill of FTI Consulting are receivers and managers. The ABC reported that lender Hilco appointed them to protect its loans.

The ABC said the collapse followed a breakdown in talks with Westfield, a key landlord. SBS reported that David Jones had not paid rent to Westfield since September. It also said 17 of the chain's 38 remaining stores are in Scentre Group centres.

Will Perth David Jones stores close?

No closures have been announced yet. In a statement reported by the ABC, McGrathNicol said David Jones stores and its website would keep trading under the receivers while they review operations.

Closures look likely, though. The ABC obtained a letter to staff from receiver David McGrath. In it, he said the business would probably move to shrink its store network in the near term. Staff and unions would be consulted once decisions were made.

The ABC also reported that five Westfield stores had been flagged to close because they run at a loss. Carousel in Perth is one of them. The others are Parramatta, Hornsby, Woden in Canberra and Southland in Melbourne.

A retail analyst quoted by the ABC said outer-suburban stores were the most likely to go. Perth shoppers and staff should treat any longer closure list as speculation until the receivers confirm it.

What does it mean for David Jones staff?

For now, staff keep getting paid. The ABC reported that the receivers' letter confirmed normal pay. It said the receivers were also reviewing unpaid entitlements owed to staff.

The company has not said how many people it employs in WA. HR Leader, citing the BBC, put the workforce at about 6,000 people across Australia and New Zealand. That includes shop floors, support centres and distribution centres.

The retail union, the SDA, told the ABC it would try to keep as many people in work as possible. It also said it would fight to make sure any workers made redundant receive all their entitlements.

Staff who lose their jobs should check what they are owed. Our guide to redundancy pay in WA explains notice, redundancy pay and leave payouts.

Who else is hiring in Perth retail and customer service?

Retail hiring in our feed is thin. On 6 November, Jobs In Perth listed 7 live direct retail ads in Perth. Kitchen Warehouse posted 5 of them, all sales assistant roles in Rockingham, Osborne Park, Midland, Malaga and Joondalup. Five of the seven were casual.

Workers with selling or service skills have more options in nearby fields:

• 24 live sales ads in Perth. Kitchen Warehouse and 4WD Supacentre posted the most, and 16 of the 24 were full time.
• 22 live customer service ads in Perth. WA Police, North Metropolitan TAFE and Water Corporation were among the employers. Of the 15 ads that quoted an annual salary, the median midpoint was about $87,000.

Many of the customer service roles are in the WA public sector, such as counter and information officer jobs. They often state pay bands and closing dates, which helps when you need to move fast.

David Jones is not the only big employer cutting back this week. Read our report on job cuts at Perth-founded Canva.

How we reported this

• Appointment date, administrators and receivers come from McGrathNicol's David Jones Group creditor page, viewed on 6 November 2026.
• Store closure reports, the receivers' letter to staff and union comments come from the ABC (5 November 2026). Rent and store figures come from SBS. The workforce estimate comes from HR Leader, citing the BBC.
• Jobs In Perth figures are live direct-from-employer ads in our feed, observed on 6 November 2026. Agency and aggregator ads are not included. These are advertised vacancies, not people employed.
• Cover image: AI-generated illustration, not a photo of the event.

Sources

• McGrathNicol: David Jones Group, creditor information (appointment 5 November 2026)
• ABC News: David Jones calls in administrators, leaving retailer's future in doubt (5 November 2026)
• SBS News: What David Jones' administration means for shoppers, stores and gift cards (5 November 2026)
• HR Leader: David Jones employees' future unclear as retailer enters administration (6 November 2026)