David Jones will continue the rollout of its $100m food strategy, today announcing plans to open the new concept at Malvern Central in Melbourne in March next year.
The 550sqm David Jones Food store at Malvern will be the first concept in Melbourne to launch under the new David Jones Food moniker, which is a curated grocery and wine offering including premium Aussie and global brands.
The majority of product offered will be under the department store’s new premium David Jones Food label, which launched earlier this month at Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney. The range of categories includes a convenience selection of prepared vegetables, salads and fruit, and will also include ready-made meals and ready-to-eat take home options including rotisserie chickens, sandwiches, sushi and coffee from an espresso bar.
Additional David Jones Food products, ranging from ice-cream and confectionery to meat, herbs and spices will also be included in the Malvern Central offering, plus a curated range of brands exclusive to David Jones.
“We are excited to introduce to Malvern a premium food retail offer focussed on convenience, provenance, freshness and taste that will complement our existing fashion, beauty and homewares offering,” said Pieter de Wet, David Jones group executive food.
“Malvern Central is the ideal location for this offering, with an accessible centre that lends itself to convenience food shopping and a local customer whom we know are well-travelled food lovers with high expectations for food quality and freshness.”
De Wet said DJs is confident the new food proposition will resonate strongly in this area.
New specialist food roles across a range of food categories including baristas, cheese, deli, wine and liquor experts, will be created when the Malvern store opens.
David Jones is investing $100 million over three years in the national roll out of its premium food offering, which started with the opening of a flagship food hall at its Bondi Junction store earlier this month and the launch of its own premium food brand.
The next phase of the retailer’s food plans include a similar food retail concept in Wollongong opening in October, and the introduction of several stand alone food stores in coming years.
Taking cues from Switzerland’s Globus, Eataly in New York, and La Grande Epicerie under Bon Marche in Paris, the revamped food offering will incorporate integrated dining developed with well-known chef and restaurateur Neil Perry.
David Jones is culling its range of 14,500 food products back to around 8,500 of which 70 per cent are planned to be private label.
The David Jones Food brand makes up 40 per cent of the offer at its Bondi Junction Food hall.
The department store retailer said this percentage will be much higher at the Malvern location.
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