Ghosts of Christmases past, present and future loom over Myer windows

November 6, 2026 — 5:55pm

Two groups of people gathered in the heart of Bourke Street Mall on Friday morning.

One was outside David Jones, as a handful of would-be shoppers with gift cards burning holes in their pockets and bargain hunters waited to see what would remain on shelves once the shutters of the troubled retailer were lifted at 10am.

The other was at Myer, as dozens of people of all ages gathered to catch a glimpse of Santa unveiling the department store’s 71st Christmas windows display.

This year’s theme is Toy Story. But the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future loomed large over the festivities a day after the collapse of Myer’s traditional retail rival and neighbour.

Toys nod, move limbs, shake heads and rotate in the first two windows depicting the start of Woody’s hunt for perfect Christmas presents and Buzz Lightyear on party preparation duties. But there were no dramatic lights or huge sets as in some previous years.

Myer said the display took more than 100,000 hours to create, with Disney Pixar “Easter eggs” – references to other stories – hidden in all six windows, which will be on display for two months from Saturday.

“Cool and exciting,” was the verdict from Kahlani Ives, aged 9, who was invited to preview the windows ahead of the official opening.

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Templestowe woman Liz Hammond said she “lucked out” accidentally coming across the display. Hammond journeyed into the city to spend a David Jones gift card but drifted over to Myer once anticipation built.

“Everyone just had a big smile on their face as soon as it was unveiled, it’s just a good feeling,” she said.

Just as the joyful giant of Christmas present gives over to the ominous ghost of Christmas future, shoppers’ Christmas joy was muted by sadness and uncertainty surrounding what could happen next door at David Jones as the company is in administration.

“I can’t imagine anything else but DJs being there to be honest,” Hammond said.

Myer’s own future is far from rosy, with the department giant recording a near $300 million loss last financial year and executive chair Olivia Wirth banking on in-person Christmas experiences bringing in hundreds of thousands of people to bricks and mortar stores over the peak spending period.

David Jones’ collapse is linked with months of unpaid rent owed to Westfield, and Wirth said Myer’s relationship with landlords was good, but “the conversations are always robust”.

“We’re all in the business of making money and turning a profit,” she said.

While Wirth kept mum on Myer’s share price jump off the back of its rival’s troubles, she emphasised differences between the nation’s two biggest department stores and said Christmas period was no different to any other years.

“[Our] business is a very different one from David Jones, Myer is a store for everyone,” she said in Melbourne upon the Christmas windows unveiling.

“We offer brands for everyone, we’re not playing in the luxury market. We’ve got a strong beauty business, a strong fashion business, a very strong home and kids business, so a diversified business… We also have speciality stores as well so a very different makeup than some of the other competitors in the market.”

Regardless of what happens over the festive period and beyond, she offered this promise.

“We’ll be here for many Christmases to come,” she said.

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Rachael Ward is a journalist in the City team at The Age. Contact her at rachael.ward@theage.com.auConnect via email.

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