subsidiary industry retail founded 1838 new south wales founder david jones headquarters castlereagh st new south wales australia number of locations 39 area served australia new zealand key people john dixon ceo david thomas coo gordon cairns chairman products cosmetics fashion homewares furniture electrical food revenue a 2.2 billion 2016 1 operating income a 170 million 2016 1 number of employees 7200 2014 2 parent woolworths holdings limited website davidjones.com.au david jones limited trading as david jones colloquially djs is an australian upscale department store owned by south african retail group woolworths holdings limited . david jones was founded in 1838 by david jones a welsh immigrant and is the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name . 3 4 it currently has 39 stores located in most australian states and territories . david jones main competitor is the larger mid to up market department store chain myer . on 28 july 2016 david jones will open their first new zealand store in wellington after buying kirkcaldie & stains . 5 in august 2016 woolworths holdings announced that the david jones headquarters will be moved from sydney to richmond melbourne . due to a combination of factors including rental lease fees & the market position for retail fashion as well as a lure from the victorian government . contents 1 history 1.1 1940s 1980s 1.1.1 regional nsw & interstate entry 1.1.2 united states 1.1.3 david jones art gallery 1.1.4 dajonians repertory society 1.2 1980s 2000s 1.3 2000s present 1.3.1 proposed myer merger 1.3.2 takeover by woolworths south africa 1.3.3 entry into new zealand 1.4 management 1.4.1 executive chairmen 1.4.2 non executive chairmen 1.4.3 chief executive officers 2 branding 3 stores 4 upcoming stores 5 credit and store cards 6 gallery 7 arms 8 see also 9 references 10 further reading 11 external links history edit david jones and coy store corner of george street and barrack lane circa 1900 . david jones a welsh merchant met a hobart businessman charles appleton in london . appleton had established a store in sydney in 1825 and jones subsequently established a partnership with appleton moved to australia in 1835 and the sydney store became known as appleton & jones . when the partnership was dissolved in 1838 jones moved his business to premises on the corner of george street and barrack lane . jones survived the depression of the 1840s and by 1856 had retired from active management of the business . a few years later when the firm failed he returned to manage its affairs and in a few years had fully discharged all obligations to his creditors . 6 by 1887 the george street store had been rebuilt and a mail order facility introduced . a factory was opened in marlborough street sydney to reduce reliance on imported goods . on the death of the founder his son edward lloyd jones 1844 1894 led the company . at eighteen years of age edward lloyd jones jnr 1874 1934 journeyed to england and entered the london office of david jones . on his return to australia he gained pastoral and cattle experience in the burnett district of queensland . he re entered the family business upon the death of his father in the train disaster at redfern new south wales in 1894 . david jones was then a private company but in 1906 it became a public company . 7 edward lloyd jones jnr became chairman of directors and held that position until he resigned in 1921 . the elizabeth street store was opened in 1927 under the guidance of chairman charles lloyd jones . a further store was opened in market street sydney in 1938 . there was a small branch located in the australia hotel on martin place . in 1954 a state banquet was held for visiting queen elizabeth ii in the restaurant of the elizabeth street store . 3 1940s 1980s edit david jones flagship building on the corner of elizabeth street & market street sydney regional nsw & interstate entry edit within nsw david jones established its first store in newcastle by acquiring scott s on hunter street in 1957 closed 2011 and 8 in wollongong the retailer walter lance & co. in 1960 . david jones acquired and then converted the big w department stores at kotara fair now westfield kotara and the two storey big w at warrawong new south wales in 1971 . the warrawong store closed in february 1986 . there was a store in wagga wagga due to the purchase of david copland & co in 1953 closed 1971 . david jones expanded into victoria in 1982 by acquiring the three stores of buckley & nunn located in bourke street northland and chadstone closed the latter in 1983 . in 1987 david jones purchased the former g. j. coles store and building at 299 bourke street melbourne converting it into a david jones store . david jones also owned the former georges store in collins street melbourne between 1981 and 1995 . in south australia there were the acquisitions of charles birks & co. adelaide in 1954 and john martin s adelaide in 1985 . in western australia acquired bon marche perth in 1954 closed 1979 foy & gibson in 1964 closed 1978 and aherns perth in 1999 . in queensland david jones purchased finney isles brisbane in 1955 mckimmons townsville in 1960 relocated from flinders street and then closed in 1994 t.c. beirne brisbane in 1961 marsh & webster mackay in 1963 closed 1981 boland s cairns also in 1963 relocated to earlsville in 1984 since closed wyper bros. bundaberg in 1972 closed 1981 and stuparts maryborough in 1977 closed 1981 . united states edit in 1974 david jones acquired a group of 12 stores in the united states called buffum s . these were ultimately rolled into adelaide steamship and closed by that company in may 1991 . david jones art gallery edit a significant feature of the elizabeth street shop contributing greatly to its aura of quality and exclusivity was the david jones art gallery founded in 1944 . directors included will ashton 1944 47 marion hall best 1947 49 john amory 1949 50 m p ferrandiere 1950 53 george duncan 1953 63 robert haines 1963 76 brian moore 1976 84 and peta phillips 1984 92 . among the many drawcards was the dobell exhibition of 1944 the duke of bedford s collection in 1962 and the mendel collection of modern painting also in 1962 . many of the prominent arts societies which held annual exhibitions there included the australian art society the society of artists australian watercolour institute contemporary art society and society of sculptors and associates . prize exhibitions held in the gallery included those sponsored by w d & h o wills and transfield . 9 dajonians repertory society edit throughout the 1930s and 40s the sydney store supported the dajonians repertory society a staff club amateur theatre group . their plays were variously performed in the david jones theatrette and such theatres as st james hall and independent theatre . they engaged the services of a permanent producer carl francis throughout the 30s and frederick hughes from 1940 and produced six plays a year mostly light comedies by recognised playwrights such as j. b. priestley . 10 through this time the company was led by sir charles lloyd jones until his death in 1958 . by 1959 the store network had expanded to eight stores with expansion focused upon the burgeoning new suburbs of sydney . 3 1980s 2000s edit in 1980 the adelaide steamship company headed by john spalvins acquired a substantial interest in david jones culminating in a complete takeover that took the company out of the jones family hands for the first time in its history . through the 1980s and into the 1990s the two companies involved themselves in a complex company structure whereby they each owned about half of each other and financed by huge borrowings acquired a portfolio of other companies . other acquisitions made by adelaide steamship included petersville sleigh tooth and co. penfolds and numerous others . 11 the recession of the early 1990s caused the nervous lenders over 200 banks to demand the return of their assets . this forced the liquidation of the portfolio at fire sale prices and led the two companies into bankruptcy ; the worthless adelaide steamship company was renamed residual assco ltd and was delisted . the worthless david jones limited was renamed djl . a number of the assets with value were very successfully sold off via public floats in particular national foods woolworths and the department store assets of djl were floated as david jones limited . in 1995 david jones announced an 800 million public float of the david jones and john martin retail operations . the new david jones limited was subsequently listed on the australian stock exchange with a new asx code of djs . 7 the separation and public float of the department store assets in 1995 resulted in structural and cultural changes which saw periods of stagnancy and high staff turnover . changes in management saw djs falter in the late 1990s . shares initially offered at a 2 fell as low as a 0.90 . 7 2000s present edit a major strategic review in 2003 saw the closing of two unprofitable stores the loss making david jones online web based business and its gourmet food retail stores foodchain . it revitalised many of its stores including its flagship elizabeth street and market street stores in sydney two individual buildings linked both underground and via air bridge through westfield sydney . during this period sales growth and profit growth were not continually increasing despite a consumer spending boom and the securing of exclusive deals with australian and international brands . in this period the share price was volatile it reached a high of over a 4.50 . 12 the global downturn in 2009 affected david jones reporting a sales decline of 6.4 % to 1 061.2 m in the first half of 2009 . 13 in june 2010 ceo mark mcinnes resigned after allegations that he had sexually harassed a female employee . 14 mcinnes successor paul zahra led the company through significant restructuring including the expansion of the online retail presence until october 2013 when he announced that his intention to resign . 15 zahra retained his position however on account of strong shareholder support against board chairman peter mason who eventually resigned along with two other directors who had been accused of insider trading . 16 17 proposed myer merger edit in october 2013 myer approached david jones with a conditional non binding indicative proposal for a potential merger of the two companies . 18 myer believed the combined group would have generated pro forma sales and earnings before interest and tax in 2013 of approximately 5.0 billion and 364 million respectively . in addition myer expected that a merger could have achieved more than 85 million of ongoing annual cost synergies within three years primarily driven by structural efficiencies . the board of david jones rejected the offer in november 2013 . 19 in february 2014 myer again approached david jones offering to buy the company at market value with david jones having a market capitalisation of 1.7 billion . myer also indicated that its re appointed chief executive bernie brookes would be capable of managing the combined entity should the merger occur . 20 david jones acknowledged the letter stating it would consider any proposal that is in the best interest of its shareholders but made no further comment . 21 takeover by woolworths south africa edit in april 2014 myer withdrew its proposed merger of equals following on from david jones announcement that it had recommended a 4.00 cash per share proposal and entered into a scheme implementation deed with south african