David Jones held many rites of passage for Australians. Lately it feels like death by a thousand cuts | Glynis Traill-Nash

The department store’s future is in question, but its legacy has many points of pride Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email David Jones has lived through a lot. It has survived two world wars, the Great Depression, modern recessions and changing tastes.

But lately, it feels like death by a thousand cuts for the department store, whose future beyond Christmas is in question . Not that other department stores around the globe are immune – but for Australians, this one feels especially raw. There have been so many points of pride in its 188-year history. On that point alone, David Jones remains the world’s oldest continuously operating department store…