Luxury sneaker shop Dough Store, DS Sneakers close stores amid customer fury
A sneaker shop entrepreneur has closed down two stores in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast amid a flurry of complaints from angry customers who say they never received their orders.
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An online sneaker shop entrepreneur has closed down physical stores in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast amid a flurry of complaints from customers who say they never received their orders.
News Corp has spoken to various customers of the Dough Store – a sneaker and streetwear company known for selling rare products from sought-after brands including Nike, Jordan, Yeezy, Travis Scott and Essentials – who claim they have been “scammed” hundreds of dollars for items that never arrived.
The business, run by Melbourne-born Jay Edwards-Kloss, who goes by Jay Kloss online, had stores located on Rouse St in Port Melbourne and on Charles Ave in Broadbeach, which have both been shut down.
The Dough Store has rebranded to ‘DS Sneakers’, the company’s social media shows, with shoes available to purchase online for as much as $1200 a pair, as well as other clothing and beauty products.
The business has dozens of dire reviews online from customers who say they haven’t received their orders or refunds from the company who “stopped responding to emails”.
Victorian customer Steven West claims he was “scammed” $785 for a pair of Nike shoes that never arrived, after ordering from the site more than a year ago.
“I bought the shoes online on Christmas Eve in 2023. They had a 15 per cent off sale at the time, so I thought why not. I paid for them and waited for them to arrive,” he said.
“(Months later) I started emailing asking where my shoes were and they said they were delayed by customs.
“Then they said they couldn’t get (the shoes in) anymore, but they still were selling them on their website.”
Mr West said after countless back and forth emails, the company offered him credit to purchase something else from the store.
“They said I could swap my order for something else, and gave me 10 per cent off on top of that, so I got a pair of shoes and a hoodie,” he said.
“Another four months went by and it never arrived.
“I started messaging them on Instagram and Facebook. They contacted me via Instagram, and said it was out of their control. They kept saying, ‘oh, we’ll give you a refund’.”
Mr West said he had attempted to get the money back through PayPal and his bank, but was told it had been too long since the purchase was made to receive a refund.
New Zealand resident Natasha Archer claims she was also left $600 out of pocket after purchasing a pair of sneakers from the site in January last year.
“I was going to America and I wanted some cool shoes for the trip,” she said.
“Months went by waiting and waiting and they never shipped my order, so I started to panic.”
When reaching out to the business to ask where her order was, Ms Archer said the company also told her that her order was “held up at customs”.
“I asked for my money back and I got a notification five minutes later that they had been shipped through Australia Post,” she said.
“But I never got a (shipping number) from them. Then they said Australia Post had lost it. Then I just gave up.”
Mr Edwards-Kloss told News Corp that the company had been “working on resolving all outstanding issues regarding delayed orders and delayed refunds”.
“(We) have already addressed the majority, with a commitment to resolve the rest no matter what. We have not buried our heads in the sand and we would never,” he said.
“We never considered walking away or liquidating and leaving people empty-handed, we’re fully committed to making things right before making any decisions moving forward.
“We will continue to operate online with skeleton staff and online only to ensure we get the last of any outstanding issues resolved quickly.
“We have been in business since 2018 and handled things really well for 95 per cent of the journey.
“The last thing we want to do is destroy a small business and our customer experiences off the back of a small period in time for the business.”
He said Dough Store, like most small businesses, had faced some really challenging times over the past six to 12 months.
“(Especially for) the luxury streetwear market with the flow on effect of the economy and Nike (our best selling products) choices to flood the market and kill the value and desirability of majority of our stock.
“This caused huge flow on effects and dramatically impacted our business, which couldn’t be predicted or prepared for.
“We have made dramatic changes internally from staffing to processes to ensure nothing like this happens again.”
Mr Edwards-Kloss made headlines in 2023 after posting a video to TikTok – which has since racked up nearly 400,000 views – saying he wanted to slap the passenger seated next to him on a plane who refused to give up his seat so he could sit next to his girlfriend.
The couple were travelling in business class on a Virgin flight and were unable to book two adjoining seats.
The 35-year-old also went on lifestyle podcast Danny Kennedy Fitness in 2022 to talk about how he had built “successful businesses” and “live(d) life on his own terms”.
“After suffering many setbacks, Dough Store owner Jay Kloss has used his life lessons to ultimately build a multimillion-dollar business and live a life of luxury,” the podcast bio read.
Mr Edwards-Kloss is listed as the director of four businesses – Dough Store Queensland, DS Group Aus, Garry Larrys Berries, which traded under the name Dough Store Melbourne up until 2023, and car vinyl wrap company Wraplabs.
Wraplabs is advertised online as being located in Port Melbourne and on the Gold Coast.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission had proposed to deregister Wraplabs and Garry Larrys Berries in recent months.
Mr Edwards-Kloss said it was due to “an oversight with ASIC bills which ha(d) been rectified” and both companies remained active.
A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesperson confirmed they had received reports from Dough Store customers.
“We are aware of reports about this business and encourage any Victorian consumers with concerns to contact us for assistance,” they said.
“Consumer Affairs Victoria takes reports of businesses engaging in unlawful conduct very seriously and will investigate and take further action where necessary.”
Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading is not investigating the trader.
Individuals and companies caught engaging in unlawful conduct under the Australian Consumer Law can be slapped with fines totalling $2.5m and $50m respectively.
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Originally published as Luxury sneaker shop Dough Store, DS Sneakers close stores amid customer fury
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