Two years ago, having moved back to the UK from France, I bought a pair of Karrimor snow boots thinking, wrongly, that they were the Karrimor of old that I used to buy before I moved 15 years ago. Within a few months of using them to walk the dog the sole came off one and started coming off the other. I took them back to Sports Direct's flagship store Lillywhite's on Piccadilly Circus. After nearly two hours of back and forth up and down floors, being called a racist by a very camp white South African because I pointed out his miss-interpretation of the language used on their website, I finally got the general manager, a new pair of boots and a very frank admission that Karrimor quality had gone downhill since their buyout.
But, as any good manager should, he said they were aware of this, and were working hard on quality control. My replacement boots are certainly better and I can see the differences in several of their other items. Other stores have started retailing Karrimor again when at the time it was specific to Sports Direct and its subsidiaries, so something tells me Sports Direct have actually listened, seen the number of returns and are doing something about restoring Karrimor's good name.
But who knows, times are tough, they could decide to invest less in the brand and it could all go downhill again tomorrow. Sad.
