Nearly seven months on from Adidas parting ways with rapper Kanye West, and the sportswear brand reportedly still has $1.3 billion of unsold Yeezy stock in its warehouses.
The decision from Adidas to split from West - otherwise known as Ye - came back in October last year came after the 45-year-old made antisemitic remarks both in interviews and online.
But now, Adidas has to decide what to do with the remaining stock of the popular shoe as the company attempts to turn its fortune around after it abruptly ended its partnership with West and his Yeezy brand, with 400 million euros ($441 million) in lost sales at the start of the year.
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Though Adidas is "getting closer and closer to making a decision" on what to do with the sneakers and the “options are narrowing,” new CEO Bjorn Gulden said, as per Associated Press.
He became in charge back in January this year, three months after Adidas terminated it's partnership with Ye.
However, a decision has not yet been reached due to "so many interested parties," he added.
Gulden did not confirm whether the option to destroy the shoes had been ruled out but noted that this is something it is the company is "trying to avoid."
Meanwhile other options have their own downsides, since selling the shoes would mean Ye would need to be paid royalties, removing brand identification would be dishonest.
Giving the shoes away for free sounds like a nice idea in theory but this could cause them to be resold at a higher market price.
Gulden is also remaining tight-lipped on the exact quantity of stock that is left since he believes if consumer are aware of this number it "could have an impact on demand," as per AP.
The CEO admitted losing Yeezy is "of course hurting us" and if Adidas decides not to sell the remaining shoes, it could reduce earnings by 500 million euros this year.
Net sales declined 1 per cent in the first quarter, to 5.27 billion euros, and would have risen per cent with the Yeezy line, the company said.
As a whole, Gulden described 2023 as a "a year of transition" with "a better ’24 and a good ’25" as the German sportswear business continues without the Yeezy brand.
Elsewhere, Adidas found itself being sued by investors last week who allege the company knew about Ye’s offensive remarks and harmful behaviour years before the termination and failed to take precautionary measures to limit financial losses.
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