David Jones suddenly announces closure of Tuggerah and Castle Towers stores

Upscale department store David Jones has announced the sudden permanent closure of two key stores.

The company has confirmed its Castle Towers and Tuggerah outlets in NSW will be shutting their doors for good. Both stores have been a shopping haven for 34 years.

Castle Towers will close from January 19, while Tuggerah will shut up shop on January 12.

“On behalf of all of us at David Jones, we want to thank you for being a loyal customer over the past 30 years,” a statement on the David Jones website read.

Customers living in the Castle Towers area have been urged to continue shopping with David Jones at surrounding stores including Parramatta, Macquarie Centre, Hornsby and its newly refurbished Chatswood Chase store.

Customers close to the Tuggerah outlet have been urged to next year opt instead for surrounding stores in Kotara, Green Hills and Hornsby.

The move has divided customers with some saying they were not happy with the move and were sad to see them go.

Others, however, admitted they hadn’t visited the stores in decades and predicted more closures could be to come.

“That’s a shame,” one wrote on social media. “Popped my head in whenever I was that end of the coast. Could shoot a cannon ball down it most of the time, so empty. Lost Target at Erina Fair, David Jones going. Losing a lot of shops I enjoyed.”

Another wrote, “Gonna sound like the biggest Gen Z’er here but sorry, they need to get with the times”.

“Their prices are not competitive most of the time and customer service in store terrible.

“To me they haven’t made any effort to keep up with the online age and appeal to the modern consumer. Times are tough and a lot of these pretentious companies are fading away.”

Despite the closures, David Jones still has about 40 stores across Australia.

The Nightly has reached out to David Jones for comment.