A display stand for a portable article with a base having a bottom bearing portion and a support for a portable article. A retracting mechanism has a spool around which a flexible tether is wrapped. The spool has an axis around which the spool is turned as the tether is: a) paid out to allow a portable article to which the first end of the tether is connected to be moved away from the base; and b) retracted to shorten a paid out length of the tether. The retracting mechanism has a biasing assembly that urges the spool to turn around the spool axis so as to retract the tether. The tether is guided to be paid out from the spool generally in a straight path in a line, with the line of the straight path transverse to the spool axis.