Alfred Jones was born in 1837 and had 13 siblings. Both his father William Henry Jones (1808-1868), and grandfather William Jones were bootmakers. Alfred opened a shop in 1857 in Bayswater, London with Emma Jane Rudkin, who he married in 1860 and went on to have 11 sons and 3 daughters. The shop was open from 8am to 8pm and midnight on Saturdays. It was one of the first shops to have electric lighting which drew in many people. Alfred Jones died in 1916 but 9 of Alfred’s sons were apprenticed to the shoe trade over the years and each went on to open a shop under the name of A.Jones & Sons. These included stores in Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Brighton, Southampton and Worthing in addition to the London store.
These stores led the field by introducing stocks of ready-made shoes in 3 different widths and started a tradition in shoe fitting.
Following the Second World War expansion continued with the opening of a large warehouse in Eastbourne, East Sussex, the acquisition of new stores and the modernisation of branches. Throughout the expansion the ideals of a family business with a long standing reputation for quality care and fitting was maintained.
By 1955 the number of shops had outgrown the factories production capacity and the company joined Church & Co.
As a member of the Church group the company expanded further under the name ‘Jones Bootmaker since 1857’. In 1994 the first new ‘City Bootmaker’ shop was opened in Manchester, and in 1996 we became known ‘Jones Bootmaker’. Prada acquired the Church group and subsequently in 2001 Jones Bootmaker was taken over by a private investor. In 2010, Jones Bootmaker was bought by the Macintosh Retail Group which has over 1150 stores in Living, Fashion, Automotive sectors across the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.
Written by stellarosevintage
from 1920s shoes
Courtesy of stellarosevintage
