Karrimor was founded and based in Lancashire, England, following World War II, with the company moving early on from Rawtenstall shop premises to nearby Clayton-le-Moors. Its history began in 1943, when Waterfoot bicycle shop owner Charles Parsons (1910–?) went blind from an accident that had occurred in 1939. Under war and post-war conditions, he was also unable to obtain saddlebag and pannier stock for sale, but was still able to buy local raw fabric. His wife and her sister (Mary Parsons 1914–? and Grace Davies) began to make bicycle bags for his shop, which the family also began to sell locally to other shops. This led to the Karrimor Bag Company being formed in 1946. As a saddlebag manufacturer it competed with companies then in the same industry, such as Carradice and Dunlop.