In October, adidas announced it was parting ways with Ye and his Yeezy brand due to his erratic behavior and anti-Semitic comments. And to this day, adidas is still trying to figure out what to do with their remaining Yeezy product.
Various reports began circulating regarding the future of adidas Yeezy products, both officially and speculative. Some said the products would be destroyed, while others said the product would be released, and once adidas had run through the inventory, it would be over. The idea has even been floated to release more Yeezy products sans the Yeezy branding — such as the adidas Yeezy 350 turning into the adidas 350.
adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden gave an update Friday, essentially saying the company still doesn't know what it's going to do. The company would stand to lose approximately €1.2 billion by not selling the product it still has on hand, Gulden said in a press release, and writing-off the existing inventory would lower adidas' operating profit by €500 for fiscal 2023. While adidas saw a small profit in Q1 2023, the impact of not carrying Yeezy anymore resulted in a sales decline in Greater China and North America.
adidas estimates it's lost €400 million on a year-by-year basis, mainly across North America, Greater China and EMEA regions, due to the discontinuation of Yeezy. Direct-to-consumer sales, meanwhile, have declined 7 percent compared to the previous year. E-commerce is also down 23 percent, as most Yeezy product was sold trough adidas online.
More than six months into life post-Kanye, adidas is still looking for answers on how to proceed. Stay tuned to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app for all the latest on this ongoing story as it develops.
