Small business owners supplying David Jones are scrambling to get their stock returned after the 188-year-old brand entered voluntary administration.
Shelley Tzeegankoff, the founder of Porter Jewellery, shared a video on Thursday revealing her team's desperate behind-the-scenes efforts amid fears invoices won't be paid.
The department store made the shock announcement earlier on Thursday after the company could not pay rent owed to Westfield owner Scentre Group, leaving 6,000 jobs in doubt.
Retail analyst Barry Urquhart said David Jones' underperforming suburban stores are the most vulnerable of disappearing within its 38-store network, but shoppers have been warned to use their vouchers now in case the brand closes for good.
The announcement was even more pressing for small business owners whose stock had already been sent to David Jones locations.
Ms Tzeegankoff's video showed herself and a staff member making calls to retrieve a $50,000 shipment of custom-made jewellery.
'We had a bunch of bulk shipments go out today for all David Jones orders. I was wondering if it was possible to reverse them and have them shipped back to us?' her staffer was filmed asking a courier service.
Ms Tzeegankoff described the announcement as a 'very sad day for so many small businesses'.
Shelley Tzeegankoff (above), the founder of Porter Jewellery, spent Thursday morning trying to retrieve a $50,000 shipment of product to David Jones
David Jones (above) announced it had entered administration on Thursday morning after it failed to pay rent owed to Westfield
She said she wasn't jumping ship on David Jones but that she needed to make sure she was protecting her brand.
'Sometimes working alongside them in those times can allow both businesses to come out stronger,' she wrote.
'We made decisions in good faith based on the information we had at the time. But now our priority has to be protecting our business, our team and everything we've worked so hard to build.'
Comments under the video were sympathetic and noted small businesses were a largely forgotten victim in the ordeal.
'Feeling for all our iconic Aussie brands who are in this position. It's literally devastating,' one wrote.
'My parents' small business is in the exact same boat. We had internal contacts at David Jones reassuring us for weeks that everything is fine, only for this news to break,' another said.
'So sad to see. Sending lots of love and support your way,' another wrote.
Sydney businesswoman Chloe Barry-Hang also took to social media about the saga, revealing her towel robe brand, K Juliet, had just launched in David Jones.
Chloe Barry-Hang (centre), founder of K Juliet, revealed her company had too much stock after placing orders to keep up with demand required by David Jones' physical stores
'It was a massive dream of ours to launch with a major retailer in Australia. David Jones' an iconic brand and it was a really big dream and a really big goal for us,' she told followers in a video on Thursday.
'We have been working on this deal for such a long time.
'My family gave up weekend after weekend to help us pack this order because we couldn't afford to pay people, so they came and helped. My 80-year-old grandparents came and helped us pack all weekend.
'We're a small business. We don't have all this capital backing us. We're not rolling in money.'
Ms Barry-Hang explained that only the first order of her brand's robes were on the floor when David Jones announced it had entered administration. Several more orders were on the way.
The orders had been placed in advance to keep up with the high stock levels demanded by physical store presence.
Now, K Juliet was left with an excessive amount of stock and nowhere to sell it but its website.
'It's already been paid for, it's on the way here, most of it's actually already arrived,' Ms Barry-Hang said.
Ms Barry-Hang admitted she wasn't sure how K Juliet (above) was 'going to do financially'
'We wanted to make sure that we could get it to everyone in time.
'That stock is stock that we're not gonna be able to sell through - there is so much stock there.'
She joked that anyone in need of Christmas presents could consider purchasing from her online store.
'We are super sad, very disheartened obviously, incredibly stressed,' Ms Barry-Hang said.
'I don't know what we're going to do with all of this stock. I don't know what we're going to do financially.'
David Jones has already begun discounting major brands including Hush Puppies and Effie Kats with many marked as 'reduced to clear'.
However, shoppers hoping for huge clearance discounts may not see the significant sales typically associated with retail collapses.
Retail analyst Barry Urquhart argued David Jones could not afford the kind of massive liquidation sales often seen when retailers collapse because it needs to preserve cash.
David Jones (above) informed its 6,000 workers that it had entered voluntary administration on Thursday
Join the discussionShould big retailers do more to protect small businesses when they face financial collapse?
'When you are in business and retail in particular, and you give a discount, 100 per cent of the discount comes out of your profits,' he said.
'They need surplus cash flow. They can't do that with a splash big discount or clearance sale.'
Staff were informed on Thursday the David Jones board had appointed voluntary administrators from McGrathNicol, before the retailer's main financier installed FTI Consulting as receivers.
McGrath Nicol and FTI Consulting said in a joint announcement David Jones' physical and online stores would continue to trade under the control of the receivers, while they reviewed the current operations.
David Jones had sought a break from rent payments and permission to close several stores before their leases expired.
It also reportedly asked landlords to release about $70million held as security against its leases so it could pay staff and suppliers.
Scentre Group said David Jones had breached its lease agreements by failing to pay October rent and had been offered delayed rental payments and the ability to close some Westfield stores over the next 12 months.
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