Stressed and out of pocket: David Jones’ great-great-great grandson is owed money, too

Résumé détaillé

Ben Nothling, a sixth-generation descendant of the Welsh entrepreneur David Jones, owns a shoe business. He’s owed $130,000 by the collapsed retailer.

Ben Nothling, entrepreneur and co-founder of footwear brand Holster, has his own fond memories of David Jones.

His are a little closer to home. “Dad would always tell us stories,” Nothling said. “[Jones would] go over to the UK on buying trips, and bring back premium goods.”

Nothling’s father Martin was describing David Jones, the enterprising Welsh merchant who founded the eponymous department store in 1838. It makes Ben a sixth-generation descendant, or the great-great-great grandson of Jones. When Nothling senior learnt the once-iconic retailer had fallen, he was lost for words.

“He actually couldn’t believe it,” said Nothling. “He’s really sad it’s all come to that. How did they collapse?”

Nothling’s shoe business is owed $130,000 by David Jones, and among hundreds if not thousands of suppliers caught in the fallout of the department store’s spectacular collapse.

After studying business, Nothling founded the Holster label with his wife Natalie Miller 25 years ago after visiting Bali and returning with a selection of shoes that he resold to enthusiastic demand. The husband-and-wife duo then turned their hand to designing their own (Miller designs the prototypes). Their vegan slides, sandals and sneakers now turn over about $10 million every year and are sold in 30 countries.

About 2010, the Holster brand entered David Jones and never ran into any issues – until a few months ago, after the store started pushing out payment terms.

Two shipments of shoes delivered in June and July weren’t paid for, which was unusual.

“David Jones was a big account to us … We dealt with them for 15 years. They’d always paid us on time,” said Nothling. “They came back with a weird email saying, ‘We need to check. We’ll come back to you.’ Soon as they were overdue, we froze their account.”

Début de l'article, extrait de The Sydney Morning Herald. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.