Karrimors reputation suffering?

I do own a karrimor "Joe Brown" since round about 27 years. I really do use it ..... perfect!

Not an good brand for longer?

> Is this a retailer going completely t*ts up too?

Probably, if form is anything to go by.

Having said that, I saw a reasonable-looking lightweight Karrimor soft shell in TKM the other week; the Versa.

I could have cried too when the final nails went into the coffin of Karrimor with the closing of their stores! The Brighton one was fab indeed, and I loved going in there for bits and pieces very much as the staff in there were fab too! Their last manager was a chap that actually knew a lot about outdoors kit and its uses as well, which is unusual now these days in most outdoors chains of stores! Look at Millets for instance where the only time lots of their staff seem to have been in a tent is instore, setting up a flipping display model!

I am very very sad indeed to see now, what does at first glance at least appear to be, the beginning of perhaps the final demise of Field and Trek as we know it though!

It was a karrimor sleeping bag that first got me seriously interested in their products sometime around the early-mid 80's,it was lent to me for a camping trip by an uncle of mine who had used it in snow holes in scotland,fantastic piece of kit.

It is really sad to see the brand deteriorating over the years from being the number one manufacturer to being a hopelessly inept bargain basement supplier.Shame really.

I was a fan of Karrimor and still own and use mostly Karrimor gear (I used to pass the factory shop on my way home from work, bargaintastic). It's a real shame what's happened to the name.

I share the sentiments expressed in other posts on this thread.  However I agree with the comment that suggests not all of the gear is rubbish.  If you examine some of the Rucksacks and the like sold by the likes of F&T or Blacks the kit looks half decent and does not appear to bear any relation to the likes of the kit sold in Sportsworld.

I long ago decided to take with a pinch of salt the RRP's quoted on the "swing tags" in Sportsworld.  I recently purchased a lightweight karrimor half zip fleece in Sportsworld for circa £10.00 the RRP was quoted as circa £35.00.  It was worth £10.00 but never £35.00.

Like Brenda said, the Karrimor of old is not the same thing as the current brand at all, but I think a lot of the perception we currently pick up is from the bottom of the range stuff which is what shifts most units and therefore gets seen the most.  I see plenty of the cheap daysacks and the like, but very few shops seem to be carrying their more serious packs.  Were it not for a quick look at their website I wouldn't have realised they still actually made more serious packs!

Trevor, if it's known as "Rip-Off Britain the world over", how come I'm typically no better off buying in Den Haag than I am in Dundee?  Ski wax is cheaper in the (not known for its cheapness) Bramar Mountain Sports than it is in Lillehammer where the factory is!  Sure, N. America is  amuch cheaper place to buy gear than here on the whole, but from what i see we're not really worse off than most of Europe, and quite a bit cheaper than Scandanavia.

Pete. 

the earlier versions of the 'new' karrimor weren't as awful as they are now...the rucsacs were OK (not now, tho', IMHO). the shoes/boots look rubbish...don't think i'd buy them, even in tk maxx...

 sad,  alpiniste fleece is one of the best i've got, still use an 80's 'sac...

Just because it says "Karrimor" on the label, doesn't mean it's a Karrimor pack!

As a teenager taking to the hills not far from the old Karrimor works, and having a friend whose uncle worked for Karrimor, you can bet I was a fan of their stuff. Later, I made a tour of the works with a number of journalists, and it was clear that they took research and development very seriously. They used to throw a lot of money into this area, and I suppose that contributed to their downfall. Since being bought out, my own personal view is quite simple... it's just not Karrimor any more... regardless of what the label says. 

Okay, I´ve got answers to my question.

Bad, very bad!!

In Germany, they joined another system of distribution. No own shops as far as I do know. Retailers, just only retailers. I remember, cause it was a lot of money (more than 100 Deutsch Marks) but I never have regret this money. To hear now that the company is not longer a good company makes me feel sad. My "Joe Brown" is the best sack I ever had. So stupid, so so stupid.

 (sorry for my bad english!)

Manfred

I use a Karrimor Extreme range Paclite wetproof - a good piece of kit, but that is from before The Fall

The kit really is rubbish now & the new owners should be ashamed of themselves. Then again, this is capitalism, and it has no shame!