Sportshop Karrer AG (Laufen)

The history of SportShop Karrer AG goes back more than 35 years. Since this time Fridolin Karrer has been renting out alpine skis and cross-country skis as well as snowboards to children, teenagers and adults with great success. Around 25,000 pairs of alpine skis, 5,000 snowboards and 1,000 pairs of cross-country skis, including bindings, boots and poles, await enthusiastic winter sports enthusiasts from the Basel region and even from nearby foreign countries every year. A success story that started in the small community of Brislach (BL).
It all began in 1965, when Fridolin Karrer, then a teacher in the municipality of Brislach (BL), was teaching students who would have liked to go to traditional ski camps but had neither suitable ski equipment nor the financial means to do so. Fridolin Karrer had therefore started to collect skis, boots and poles and, together with helpers from the region, organized the first ski days. Fridolin Karrer remembers a trip with tractor and wagon, for example.
A workshop was set up in the rooms of an old farmhouse and the collected ski equipment was brought up to scratch. Fridolin Karrer can still remember how the first belt grinder in winter first had to have the water thawed out so that the skis could be processed accordingly.
Fridolin Karrer's motivation was the love of winter sports, on the one hand, and the idea of offering less well-off families, and especially children, the opportunity to participate in winter sports, which were on the rise at the time, on the other. As a teacher he had insights into different social classes and this charitable commitment of this activity had always given satisfaction and incentive to continue.
The initial hobby with a social background had gradually developed into an enterprise that required full commitment and concentration. As a consequence, Fridolin Karrer gave up his safe teaching profession and became a sports dealer with a focus on rental. The double burden simply became too much for him. A suitable location for the business was found in the industrial zone of Brislach and the demand for the services offered increased from year to year.
The ski rental shop at the old location was quickly threatening to burst at the seams. Lack of space, no parking spaces and the ever-growing catchment area of the clientele presented Fridolin Karrer with the choice of either giving up or looking for a new, more suitable location. It was a stroke of luck that Fridolin Karrer was able to rent the entire area of an old brickyard in Laufen on a long-term basis and convert it according to his ideas.
Now SportShop Karrer AG has an infrastructure that meets all customer requirements. In the meantime, we serve customers from the greater Basel region, from the nearby French Jura and increasingly from the neighboring German area.
Today we employ 17 full-time employees and in the high season (winter) at least the same number of part-time employees. The full employment of the staff, especially in the summer months, inevitably requires a constant expansion of the offer. The previous summer offer (sale of textiles, all kinds of sports equipment, bicycles, etc.) we have now expanded. From now on we have more than 20 electric bikes for rent. At our partner in Gempen, the headquarters of Schwarzbubenland Tourism, more electric bikes are available. For club or business events, even minibuses with bike trailers (largest bus up to 16 seats) can be rented. Of course, the electric bike can also be purchased after extensive testing.