Yeezy’s departure from Adidas isn’t slowing down Kanye West’s success with the company.
As AfroTech previously told you, Adidas severing its ties with West contributed to the plummet of the company’s North American sales by 20%.
“The decline in Lifestyle and the loss of Yeezy are of course hurting us,” Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said in a company statement.
Adidas then made the decision to sell its remaining stock of Yeezy, with a portion of sales being donated to stakeholders and organizations fighting against antisemitism and racism.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to begin releasing some of the remaining Adidas YEEZY products,” Gulden said in a statement. “Selling and donating was the preferred option among all organizations and stakeholders we spoke to. We believe this is the best solution as it respects the created designs and produced shoes, it works for our people, resolves an inventory problem, and will have a positive impact in our communities. There is no place in sport or society for hate of any kind, and we remain committed to fighting against it.”
Adidas plans to continue releasing more inventory as executives see it as an alternative to “destroying and writing off the inventory.”
“We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,” Adidas said in a press release. “This is much better than destroying and writing off the inventory and allows us to make substantial donations to organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. And it is of course also helping both our cash flow and general financial strength.”
