Months after severing ties with its former partner, the controversial Kanye West, Adidas says the artist-turned-designer is still causing damage to the German brand.
According to the Adidas Revenue Report for the Prior Year Level in the First Quarter of 2023, released May 5, 2023, the apparel company has experienced a “20% sales decline in North America — down 5% excluding Yeezy.”
The company’s CEO Bjørn Gulden said the loss can be attributed to “Yeezy,” saying the loss is “hurting us.”
While the separation from Ye has made the brand a little less cool to some people, what is hurting the company the most is “the high levels of inventory” the brand has of Yeezy stuff they can no longer sell.
However, according to AP News, the brand is making up for the loss by figuring out what it will do with all the sneakers they have, adding there are “so many interested parties” involved in the conversation.
The executive assured the press outlet, “getting closer and closer to making a decision” on what they will do in the future with the Yeezys.
“Depending on who you speak to, people will say you cannot destroy because it’s a sustainability issue, right? So, please don’t destroy. And then, those who are like, ‘Please don’t sell because you have a reputation issue,’” the New York Post reports him as saying.
They claim Adidas knew Ye was a loose cannon and never informed them about his potential to negatively impact the brand.
Despite all of this energy around the Yeezy brand, the report states the “inventory position improves sequentially to € 5.7 billion, up 25% versus the prior year.”