Oh man, that's rough.
In all my dealings with shops on various projects over the years, I've never had to front more than 50% of the cash at the start of the project. Most places just need this to know you're serious and they generally can afford to cover the balance and know you're good for it per a purchase agreement when the project is complete and ready for delivery.
A hard lesson, and we can all learn from this guy's misfortune.