Adidas announces plan to sell leftover Yeezy sneakers

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Adidas has introduced its plan to sell the remaining Yeezy sneakers in inventory.

On 31 January, the German athletic conglomerate launched its preliminary outcomes for 2023, outlining how the discontinuation of Kanye West’s Yeezy effected its enterprise. “This represented a drag of around €500m ($543.69m) on the year-over-year comparison,” the corporate reported.

Adidas’ preliminary plan was to dispose about $324m of Yeezy stock after deciding to lower ties with the rapper in 2022 due to his antisemitic remarks. Now, they’ve modified their minds and plan to sell the final of the Yeezy inventory “at cost”.

“Our consumer, retail and trade research has shown that we can sell this remaining inventory in 2024 for at least the cost price,” Bjørn Gulden, the CEO of Adidas, proclaimed. “This is why we have only written off inventory that was either damaged or very broken in sizes.”

Following West’s collection of antisemitic feedback, which led to his momentary ban on X (previously often called Twitter), Adidas dissolved their partnership with Yeezy. The model defined its choice in a press launch on 25 October 2022, condemning antisemitism and all types of hate speech.

”Adidas doesn’t tolerate antisemitism and every other form of hate speech. Ye’s latest feedback and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and harmful, they usually violate the corporate’s values of range and inclusion, mutual respect and equity,” the corporate stated.

“After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies,” the assertion continued. “Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”

At the time, the corporate projected a lack of $271.8m for 2022. In May 2023, Adidas introduced it could be promoting the remainder of the Yeezy inventory and handing the proceeds over to the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, and different charities. In 2022 and 2023, Adidas reported a revenue of about $326m from promoting about $1.3bn and $815m in Yeezy inventory, respectively.

“We do of course know that our financial performance is not good. But we are on the way of making Adidas a good company again,” Gulden stated on 31 January.

“As we said from the beginning, we just need the time to solidly build it up again. I feel that the attitude and agility in our teams are back and that we are showing the old adidas DNA again,” he added.