The purchase of David Jones may go down in history as Woolworths' biggest strategic blunder with the ailing department store cutting more jobs to reduce costs and stabilise the business. On Thursday, Woolworths said it was cutting 16 jobs at David Jones, including that of MD for clothing and general merchandise David Collins. The news comes just a month after the axing of its Australian CEO, John Dixon, when the group said it wanted to simplify its regional structure. Two years ago when Woolworths consolidated its Australian head office in Melbourne into a "campus-style" workplace to be shared by David Jones, Country Road Group, Mimco, Trenery and Witchery, Woolworths said the consolidation would not result in job cuts. At the time, group CEO Ian Moir denied the move was a cost-cutting initiative. Some analysts believe Woolworths should not have bought David Jones, given the trouble it is now giving the group.Atiyyah Vawda, a retail analyst at Avior Capital, said it should have cut ...
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