Traders from Jacob’s Conceptstore write an open letter: “New stores are opening, but we still have 45,000 euros in credit” (Domestic)

Ten traders from the Jacob’s Conceptstore retail chain complain in an open letter about non-payments by the chain. “The manager is opening new stores, but we still have 45,000 euros in credit,” it sounds. Yet a new store is already in the pipeline in Kapellen.

READ ALSO. Traders sound the alarm: “Jacob’s Conceptstore still owes us tens of thousands of euros”

In April 2024, several traders sounded the alarm because Jacob’s Conceptstore had not paid their invoices since December. According to our calculations, the overdue amounts amounted to more than 150,000 euros. Some have now been paid, but a group of ten traders are still waiting for overdue amounts to be paid.

The traders sell their products through the retail chain and give up 35 percent of their turnover in exchange for a place in the business. Because Jacob’s receives these amounts for them and then does not pay them for months, the traders get into trouble. In an open letter they criticize the fact that, despite their many questions, they have still not received clarity about their payment.

“We were promised that clarity about the overdue amounts would be provided on April 17,” says one of the signatories of the letter. “Eventually we received an email stating again that there were cash problems, but we did not read a word about a solution in the communication from manager Tomas Nouws. Like all previous communications, this one also excels in vagueness. We also heard that some traders have already been paid after threatening legal action, but we are still left out in the cold,” it said.

New store

The traders accuse Nouws of renovating and opening businesses and financing this with their money. “Nouws recently opened a new Jacob’s Concept store in Leuven. That costs a lot of money, but in the meantime we are at our wits’ end,” they testify. In the meantime, a new store in Kapellen is also planned. Until recently, Jacob’s already had a store there in the Promenade shopping center, but despite the financial problems, a brand new, renovated store will soon open there.

We contacted Thomas Nouws several times regarding this article, but he did not respond to our questions.