humble beginnings
1928
Albert Pascoe Jones was born in Cornwall, England in 1896 and started work at Simpsons, a gentleman’s outfitters in Penzance, when he was fourteen years old. After serving for 5 years in the First World War, AP moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1919. He worked for Stuttafords and Garlicks before moving to the small village of Fish Hoek with his wife, Flo, in 1928 and buying a small grocery store on Kommetjie Road, naming it AP Jones.
Ap Expands
1920s - 1950s
AP Jones started to sell ladies' and men’s wear and began to import material and thus expanded to become a shop with two doors, one opening into the grocery store and one into the soft goods. As Fish Hoek grew, the clothing and material departments became so popular that he sold the grocery side. At the age of 18, AP’s son Geoff joined the family business in 1948. Business continued to flourish and when a new building was erected on the corner of Central and Main Road, AP rented one of the shops and separated the men’s department from the ladies’. AP Jones survived the depression of the 1930s and moved to larger premises (the building where the store is now) in 1952 in order to expand. In 1957 AP’s daughter, Jenny, married Fritz Bing, a well-known sportsman who came in to manage the men’s department while Geoff stayed in the ladies’ with his parents.
wedding of the year
1960s - 1970s
Fritz started a sports department in the shop, soon housing the first ever fishing rod and cricket ball manufacturing factories in South Africa. The sports department became so popular that cricketers would drive from far and wide to buy a hand-selected bat from Fritz. In 1977, AP bought a house in First Avenue and turned it into a retail space, creating the first walk through from the car park into the Main Road.
A Family Affair
1980s - 1990s
After building up a flourishing business based on personal service, AP finally retired in 1980 and left his store in the very capable hands of his son, Geoff, and son-in-law, Fritz. Jenny and Fritz bought the business in 1984, at which time Jenny became the ladies’ buyer. Their son, Greg, joined his parents in 1984 at the age of 23 and his elder brother, Rick, joined them in 1992.
The Fourth Generation
2000s - Today
Jenny retired as ladies’ buyer in 2005, when Greg’s wife Lynn took over. The Bing brothers later took over the shop from their parents, running it together until 2016 when Rick left the business, making Greg and Lynn the store-owners. In 2018, AP Jones entered into its fourth generation when Greg’s daughter Lauren joined the family business, taking over the marketing and digital departments. Today, the parent-daughter team runs AP Jones, with a fantastic group of staff helping to maintain the personal service it has become known for over the past 96 years.
