David Jones facing 'alarming' financial speculation just before Christmas

Iconic department store David Jones is being forced to defend its future viability, as the Australian retailer faces speculation about store closures and misses a crucial filing deadline.

The department store's key lender has already chipped in extra cash before Christmas to allow David Jones to stock up before the busy festive season.

Hilco Capital would not confirm the amount but the ABC understands it to be around $10 million.

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"Hilco remains supportive of the business and any inference otherwise is false," the lender said in a statement. 

The ABC has confirmed that David Jones just missed a deadline to file its most recent financial year reports to the corporate regulator, ASIC.

Meanwhile, there is ongoing media speculation that the retailer is going to call it quits on several stores inside Westfield shopping centres. 

It currently has 38 stores nationally.

David Jones is owned by private equity firm, Anchorage Capital Partners. 

A spokesperson for that Australian firm said it would not comment on "speculation".

But they noted David Jones was reviewing its store network and was in discussion with "stakeholders" to put itself "on a viable financial footing".

A key union that represents retail workers, Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), said it was reaching out to workers at David Jones informing them of their rights if the retailer went under.

"The reports of David Jones' predicament are alarming," the SDA noted in a statement.

It is understood at least one major fashion brand has pulled some of its stock from David Jones, amid concerns the retailer could not pay its bills.

Suppliers have also already been put on extended terms this year, to give David Jones more time to pay for stock.

David Jones was first founded as a corner shop in Australia in 1838 and today has multi-level department stores across Australia that sell everything from cosmetics to shoes and fashion.

Its main rival is the ASX-listed Myer, which early last year voted to merge with Solomon Lew's apparel brands, Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti, and Jacqui E.

That merger was billed as a way for Myer to keep relevant in a changing retail landscape, where younger generations are increasingly shopping online or opting for second-hand apps like Depop.