The announcement on Thursday that the David Jones department store chain has gone into voluntary administration stirred a lot of memories and feelings for me - good memories and sad feelings.

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Happy memories because growing up in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s in a small country town meant going to DJs in the big smoke was an event, no question about it.

Sad about the demise of David Jones and the changes to retail generally, seismic changes that have made it so much harder for bricks-and-mortar businesses to operate.

We all know online shopping has changed the way we shop for everything, from high-end designer clothes to dishcloths for the sink. And it's never going to be wound back, sadly.

In a similar way, television before streaming services was all about the anticipation, the delayed gratification of actually waiting for your show to come on and then hunkering down together to watch it. Cups of tea and toilet breaks happened only during the ad breaks.

Going to DJs was kind of the same thing for me. It was delayed gratification. You had to wait, usually months at a time, to visit the nearest version of the venerable department store.

Growing up in the small country town of Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley, we had a Fosseys in the main street (don't knock it, it was grand) and one or two fancy-pants boutiques that, as a kid, I never dared venture into.

But every few months or so, me, my mum, my best friend and her mum would pile into the car and head south to Newcastle to shop. Back then, in the 1980s, it was a more than two-hour drive.

The first stop was usually David Jones in the Hunter Street Mall.........

© Canberra Times