Jones initially took a position with a draper in Hackney before moving on to apprenticeships with William Tarn in Newington and then Stagg & Mantle at Leicester Square.
He opened his own small draper's shop, ‘Peter Jones' in 1871 on Marlborough Road (now Draycott Avenue), Chelsea.
In 1902, however, the company made the mistake of buying up cheap bankrupt stock and together with a new policy of frequent sales, weakened the business.
On 1 September 1905, The West Middlesex Advertiser recorded that ‘..Mr Peter Jones, the founder of the great drapery emporium at Sloane Square.. who was 62 years of age, died peacefully in his sleep — a quiet ending to one of the most strenuous and remarkable careers which the metropolis presents'.
The Sloane Square business was purchased by John Lewis, founder of the eponymous Oxford Street store, after his death.