WHAT IT MEANS: Department stores look for new ways to boost foot traffic. David Jones turnaround gains traction.Department stores are rare retail beasts. Unlike their forecourt or supermarket kinsmen who are largely fashioned for the prosaic, even grudging, activity of their in-and-out customers, department stores have a considered resolve to make you linger.They do this with visual and visceral displays, made-to-measure suiting, flutes of crisp champagne and bespoke fragrance bars. Retail theatre, they call it.Engaging customers through innovation and the unconventional can’t be replicated online, so department stores have essentially become spaces for inspiration and socialising and, in doing so, have found a way to remain relevant in a digital age.In this blurring between retail and recreation, food plays a key role.John Dixon, CEO of Australian department chain David Jones, says a thriving food business in a department store can have a "halo effect" on other categories."We start...
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