Nick Mavrides at Ace Sports in Kentish Town

CAMDEN’S last independent sports shops fear extinction after another global sportswear brand has cancelled its contract in what has been described as an act of “corporate bullying”.

Following in the footsteps of Nike and Adidas, Asics has stopped supplying the borough’s last two small independents with its products. Asics said in a letter to the businesses last month it was “reassessing the relationships with many of our customers”.

It did not say why it was closing the account but businesses presume it wants to maximise profits.  Ace Sports in Fortess Road said the decision will have a “massive impact” on their business.

A mainstay in Kentish Town since it opened in 1949, anyone growing up in the area will remember the excitement of picking out a pair of goggles from Ace’s teeming shelves of seasonal sports gear. The shop already had to downsize when Nike shut its account five years ago.

Owner Nick Mavrides said the brands were “operating in a cartel” to control the market but he will “keep fighting until the end”.

He told the New Journal: “We’ve got about £10,000 worth of [Asics trainers] stock up there. We go from a baby’s 10 all the way up to a men’s 14 in shoes. So it’s a big chunk of my business.  “One of the biggest asked-for products from the public is running shoes. If it goes on and I’m not doing the turnover then the reality is [Ace] is gone.

“They stood on our shoulders to grow their brand and now they’re crapping on us. They’re controlling what doors their product goes through, and it’ll be the big chains JD, Footlocker, because it’s easier for them to make a huge profit. Once they’ve shut all the doors, there’s no competition.”

Mr Mavrides previously took Nike to court over the brand’s refusal to supply him with an order from the local authority. Nike settled out of court.

Ace makes the PE kits for local schools Acland Burghley and Collège Français Bilingue de Londres, as well as supplying sports clubs and football teams. Mr Mavrides said the brands were “shutting the source” of sports for many children.

He added: “If we close down those people will not go to JD’s to buy a rounders bat because they don’t know what one is, quite frankly.”

Lindsay Mackie, who writes at the New Weather Institute think tank, has lived in Kentish Town for 25 years. She used to take her kids to Ace Sports.

Ms Mackie said: “It’s just a wonderful shop. And there used to be lots of those shops and now there aren’t. You try things on and you have a choice and it’s fun. It’s not like shopping online, and they’re taking that away.  It’s basically corporate bullying of an advanced sort. They’re squeezing the life out of high streets.”

The borough’s only other small sports shop, the family-run Euro Sports of Finchley Road, is also affected by the move. It has been trading since 1976 and stocks Asics’ squash, netball, tennis and running shoes, which amounts to 40 per cent of their footwear.

David Beckham meets Dipam Patel at Euro Sports

Owner Dipam Patel, who set up the business with his father, said: “There aren’t many other brands who cover that range of specialist shoes. We have people who come specially for Asics so if we don’t have the shoes they’ll turn to online.

“I was really taken aback because I don’t class Asics as fashion shoes, they’re more functional. We built their brand up in our shop so that’s not what we expected. It’s a hard hit because Asics shoes are the shoes that sports people buy.”

But Mr Patel said Euro Sports will keep afloat through its specialist tennis and cricket services.

Mr Patel restringed rackets at Wimbledon from 1988 to 2019 and the shop is well-known for its racket repair.

Asics were contacted for a comment, but have not responded.