David Jones has recorded an 8% sales slide for financial year 2020 compared to the previous year with comparable sales down 6.9%.
Sales in the last nine weeks of the second half of FY20 declined by 9.1% relative to the prior year, an improvement on the prior eight-week period, as restrictions began to ease in most parts of the region. Online sales doubled in the second half, accounting for 18.4% of total sales.
The Elizabeth Street store redevelopment is completed with all floors trading from 4 April 2020. Although lower foot traffic and the decline in tourism has been more pronounced in CBD locations, the store is trading ahead of the remaining store portfolio.
David Jones parent company, Woolworths Holdings said the operating environment is challenging and fluid and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
“Operations are being dynamically managed in terms of COVID-19 guidelines across both South Africa and Australasia. The pandemic remains a part of our daily lives and continues to disrupt our local and international supply chains, our store operations and the availability of products and services to our customers. This is a challenge the group is continuing to monitor and manage carefully,” Woolworths Holdings said in its trading update.