Summary

Registered in New South Wales in 1906.

Details

Founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh-born retailer trained in London, the company began as a single store in George Street, Sydney. The first store sold merchandise imported from London and expanded in 1848 to meet growing demand.
In 1906, David Jones announced it would become a public company. In the years up to 1979, David Jones continued to expand, opening and acquiring new stores in New South Wales, the ACT, Qld and SA. In 1974 the Buffums chain of department stores in Southern California was taken over. Buffums subsequently acquired Eastman Inc. a firm of printers and stationers in 1976, and the Colorado Capital Office Supply Co. of Denver in 1978. AAM Inc (formerly David Jones (California) Inc) was formed in 1978 to act as a holding company for the U.S. operations.
In 1980, Adelaide Steamship Company Limited acquired a substantial interest in David Jones. This was followed by a series of department store acquisitions. In 1982, David Jones acquired Melbourne based department store Buckley & Nunn, refurbishing and re-opening it under the David Jones banner.
In 1985, David Jones acquired the John Martin department store business. New stores were opened in Sydney and Brisbane. In 1990, the company entered a debt-restructuring arrangement with its bankers as a result of the collapse of the Adsteam group, poor performance from non-core investments and the onset of recession.
In 1995, David Jones limited changed its name to DJL Ltd and announced plans for a $800 million public float of the David Jones and John Martin retail operations, and the transfer of the David Jones Limited name to the company which owns and operates the retail business. David Jones Limited was listed on the ASX in 1995.

Archival resources

Current location of archives is unknown

• David Jones Limited records, 1890; Current location of archives is unknown. Details

Published resources

Books

• A retrospect 1837-1897, David Jones & Co, Sydney, New South Wales, 1897, 18 pp. Details
• How time flies, 1838-1938, David Jones Ltd, Sydney, 1938, 26 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Lloyd Jones, Sir Charles, 'The History of David Jones Ltd', Bulletin of the Business Archives Council of Australia, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-??. Details