Adidas has temporarily stopped selling rapper Kanye West’s Yeezy products. The “Yeezy” models that the company still has in stock may go on sale next year.
The German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas has initially stopped selling the Yeezy products of rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye. After two successful waves, there will be no further sales this year, said CEO Björn Gulden today at the presentation of the third quarter results in Herzogenaurach.
The sale of the remaining stocks has brought 750 million euros in sales into Adidas’ coffers so far this year; In the third quarter alone, sales of the collection generated 350 million euros in sales. After the products were stuck in warehouses for months after the end of the collaboration, the company finally decided to sell off the remaining stocks.
As part of the Yeezy sale, Adidas committed to donations to selected aid and victim organizations. So far, 140 million euros have been made available, said Gulden. It is unclear whether there will be further sales next year. “No decisions have been made yet.” Stopping sales is an option.
Separation in October 2022
In 2022, the German sporting goods manufacturer ended its cooperation with the rapper because of his racist comments. Adidas “does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other type of hate speech,” the company said at the time. However, a recent report in the New York Times revealed that West’s sexist and anti-Semitic behavior had been tolerated for years. For example, he is said to have scrawled swastikas on Adidas shoes, played porn in meetings and made sexist and anti-Semitic comments.
But the deal was highly profitable for both sides: the sale of the high-priced and trendy designer products brought Adidas 1.2 billion euros in sales. And the rapper became one of the richest people in the world.
“Super sports year” 2024 in Europe
Now the group urgently needs new sources of revenue and is hoping above all for the major sporting events in Europe next year: On the one hand, the European Championships will take place in the home country next summer. In addition, the Olympics in Paris could also help make 2024 a “super sports year,” as an Adidas manager hopes, according to information from the “Handelsblatt.” Experience has shown that the games encourage people to do more sport themselves.
The group is also gradually managing to reduce its inventories: In the first nine months of the year, inventories were reduced by 1.1 billion euros, and at 4.8 billion euros at the end of September, inventories were 23 percent below the previous year, said Gulden . “Inventories at our retail partners are also improving, albeit at a slower pace,” he added. In the USA in particular, it will take longer until the discount battle subsides.
Four percent less sales
Overall, Adidas had sales of 16.6 billion euros in the first nine months of this year – a decrease of four percent compared to the same period last year. “Of course we know that our current performance is not good enough,” said Gulden. In October, Adidas was at least able to raise its expectations for the current year somewhat: Instead of a loss of up to 700 million euros, Gulden only expects a loss of 100 million euros.