David Jones has reported a 9 per cent fall in sales during the last half of 2021, a victim of lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne which saw 70 per cent of its sales base unable to operate for long periods.
“Trade was significantly impacted by government-enforced restrictions across the region, where we were unable to trade in stores representing 70 per cent of our brick-and-mortar sales base during the lockdown period,” parent company, Woolworths Holdings reported yesterday.
Sales managed to climb by 3.2 per cent in the six-week run to December 31.
“The easing of restrictions and reopening of stores, coupled with pent-up consumer demand, delivered positive sales growth in the last six weeks of the period, notwithstanding the shift of Boxing Day sales into the second half of this financial year versus the first half of the prior period.”
With brick-and-mortar stores unable to trade, online sales jumped 44.2 during the six-month period, making up 28.1 per cent of total sales.
“Given the prolonged lockdowns in Australia … our results for the current period have been negatively impacted by the lost sales, coupled with the absence of JobKeeper and rent relief which supported the prior-year base,” the company’s statement reads.
