Struggling David Jones dumps long-serving chief Scott Fyfe, promotes Erica Berchtold to top job

David Jones has dumped long-serving boss Scott Fyfe to appoint its first female chief executive in the department store’s 188-year history.

The private equity-owned company on Monday confirmed it had promoted chief commercial officer Erica Berchtold to the top job. She was the former chief of online fashion retailer The Iconic and Mosaic Brands, the collapsed owner of retailers Millers, Noni B, Katies and Rivers.

Mr Fyfe had been in the top job since 2020 under David Jones’ previous owner, South Africa-based retail conglomerate Woolworths Holdings, and remained in that role after the department store was sold to Anchorage Capital in late 2022.

While Mr Fyfe expressed pride at David Jones’ achievements under his tenure, the retailer had consistently made headlines for widening financial losses, delayed vendor payments, and scepticism about its long-term transformation strategy under Anchorage.

David Jones slumped to a worsening pre-tax loss of $95.5m in 2025, compared with a loss of $74.1m in 2024. Sales fell 8.7 per cent to $2 billion in 2025, while underlying earnings fell 13.2 per cent to $176.48m.

David Jones and major rival Myer are facing an uphill battle as department stores grapple with a more uncertain future with the likes of Amazon and ultra-cheap fashion retailers Shein and Temu rapidly gaining popularity.

Mr Fyfe said on Monday the decision to step down was made “by mutual agreement” with the retailer’s board.

“Over the past five-and-a-half years it has been an honour to lead the business through some of the most challenging times starting in COVID, through change of ownership and significant transformation across the business, delivering growth,” Mr Fyfe said

“I am proud of the culture and values that we have established and all of our achievements.”

Ms Berchtold’s immediate priority is to sharpen and accelerate the execution of David Jones’ five-year INSPIRE30 transformation plan.

“My aim is to further improve customer experience by curating our brand so that our strategy is aligned with our core values and the needs of our customers,” she said.

Along with Ms Berchtold’s appointment, David Jones also announced it had completed a new three-year, asset-backed lending facility with restructuring specialist Hilco.

The department store noted this would improve its balance sheet and support its growth initiatives and supplier partnerships.

Among Ms Berchtold’s challenges leading David Jones will be a revamped competitor in Myer.

Under boss Olivia Wirth, Myer has had to overhaul its offerings, particularly in clothing and beauty, after conceding it needed to broaden its appeal to young shoppers.

The former Qantas loyalty boss has added a string of other fashion and beauty brands to Myer’s portfolio, including Just Jeans, Dotti and Topshop . She has also revamped the Myer One loyalty scheme.

Under Mr Fyfe, the department store struck a deal with Qantas that saw the airline become the new credit card rewards partner of David Jones.