SHOP TALK
ZEENAT MOORAD: 20 things that went through my mind at David Jones’ flagship food hall in Sydney
Though DJs is targeting wealthy customers, it can’t possibly open stores like this all over Oz
1. It took a 12-hour flight and some melatonin to get here. Oh, and one train ride that stopped at King’s Cross station — Platform 2, not Platform 9¾. 2. So this is what a A$15m store looks like. 3. A food rollout has added a layer of complexity to an already herculean turnaround. Food was never on the table when Woolworths bought David Jones (DJs) in 2014. 4. Sure, food has been in the DJs business for 80 years. But not like this. There’s a clear semblance of Woolworths here, but not in a cookie-cutter way. The grey leather fit-out of the brasserie restaurant, some of the ready meals ... wait are those zucchini noodles?5. What an awful way to spend a morning. Not. 6. From what I gather, in the UK you have discounters at the bottom of the market, big or national supermarket chains taking about 60%-70%, and then a top end that would typically be filled by a Waitrose. 7. There’s a gap at the top end of Australia’s A$100bn food market. Here the independents don’t really have scale. 8. ...
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