On today's chart 36K views since yesterday

Fantastic Furniture's last Australian factory closes, costing 100 jobs

9 News Australia asks retail expert Gary Mortimer what the Sydney closure reveals about the pressures on local production.

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9 News Australia Story of October 31, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of the most watched videos since yesterday, with 35,629 views.

Fantastic furniture closes last factory | 9 News Australia

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:00The host reports that Fantastic Furniture's final Australian factory has closed, costing 100 jobs.
0:56Mortimer identifies materials, utilities and transport among the rising costs facing businesses.
1:40Mortimer places the closure within the longstanding shift of furniture production to China and Vietnam.
2:22He predicts David Jones will negotiate lease exits and shrink to roughly 15 to 20 stores.

Fantastic Furniture's final Australian factory has closed, leaving 100 people out of work, 9 News Australia reports. The interview turns a familiar household name into a practical question: what does it cost to keep making furniture locally?

Consumer behaviour and retail expert Gary Mortimer points to mounting bills for materials, utilities and transport. Speaking by video call from the Gold Coast, he places the closure within broader pressures on retailers, while acknowledging his surprise that the company was still manufacturing in Australia at all.

"I was a little surprised to hear that Fantastic Furniture was still manufacturing furniture in Australia," he says, noting the longstanding shift of production to China and Vietnam. The segment identifies those countries as the destinations for the company's production pivot.

The new upload has drawn about 36,000 views in its opening hours. Its second subject is another recognisable Australian retailer: David Jones, which the host reports is planning to halve its store network to avoid collapse.

Mortimer compares that approach with restructuring at American department store Macy's. He expects David Jones to negotiate exits from leases and concentrate on a substantially smaller network. That is his forecast, rather than a confirmed list of closures: the interview explains the commercial logic, but does not name which stores would go.

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