The once ubiquitous retail giant slipped into voluntary administration on Thursday, unable even to pay rent on many of its stores to its biggest landlord, Westfield owner Scentre Group.
Many larger brands scrambled to the stores following Thursday's announcement, taking back stock while they could.
But not all brands have enough manpower to recoup all stock, according to K. Juliet owner Chloe Barry-Hang.
Ms Barry-Hang said her brand launched into David Jones just a few weeks ago.
"It was a massive dream of ours to launch with a major retailer in Australia," she posted on Instagram.
"We are super sad, very disheartened, obviously incredibly stressed."
"If anyone wants to know what it's like being a business owner, it just goes up and you feel like you're sky high and then it all comes crashing down."
She said businesses faced a lot of financial exposure in the wake of the news.
"They've (David Jones) only paid us a quarter of our first purchase order, but we have obviously ordered a lot of stock to last them all through summer," Ms Barry-Hang told 9's Today program.
"And that is unpaid stock that is waiting there. And that stock that we as a small business won't be able to sell through without a major retailer backing us."
Administrators from McGrathNicol are hoping to facilitate either a recapitalisation of the business or a sale to a potential buyer to save it from disappearing entirely.
Coming as little surprise to many observers, the collapse confirmed what had already been clear for decades about the challenges facing the old guard of retail.
Having opened its doors 188 years ago, David Jones has been dubbed the oldest department store in the world still operating under its original name.
But in a far cry from their golden era, department stores are failing to offer the exciting, pampering and useful customer experience for which they were once known, RMIT University retail and fashion expert Carol Tan said.
"If you walk into David Jones, it's literally a space with different brands, and you cannot get service," Associate Professor Tan told AAP.
Many of the staff members within a David Jones store are actually employed by the individual brands who pay a concession model fee to rent floor space within the store.
What could have worked to David Jones' advantage was that most people don't shop in a department store with a particular brand in mind, Prof Tan said.
"A lot of times, maybe people don't know what to wear, or don't know what kitchenware to use for example," she said.
"I think that the future department store employee is less of a salesperson, but really an adviser, like a curator or a stylist."
The potential loss of David Jones from Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall should act as a wake up call, Committee for Melbourne chief executive Cath Evans said.
"A thriving city needs a thriving retail sector," she said.
"When major retailers struggle, the implications extend well beyond the shopfront to tourism, hospitality, city workers, residents and Melbourne's broader attractiveness as a destination.
