David Jones, has unveiled its $100m food strategy, aiming to build a retail food business that draws on design elements from the world's top food sellers and gets younger generations back in-store. David Jones' new gourmet food offering will kick off at Bondi Junction in Sydney's east within seven weeks time and will showcase the retailer's attempt to tap into the $100bn food sector. Taking cues from Switzerland's Globus, Eataly in New York, and La Grande Epicerie under Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche in Paris, the revamped food offering will incorporate integrated dining developed with well-known chef and restaurateur Neil Perry, as well as cafes, butcher shops, bakeries and seafood counters plus prepared meals and packaged groceries. Westfield Bondi Junction will be followed by a food market in GPT Group's Wollongong Central shopping centre, then Melbourne's Bourke Street store in November. When Woolworths Holdings acquired Australia's oldest department store retailer, food "was never part of the rationale of the acquisition. But the South African based retail group - which is now predominantly a food business with over 400 food stores generating over 60% of its turnover today - quickly recognised a gap in the market. Pointing to a survey undertaken with a sample of its customers, de Wet said customers felt limited in their food options and gravitated towards big supermarket players only because they had no choice and it's a case of "whichever one is closest on the way home."