Adidas confirms no more Yeezy sales after 2023 after split with Kanye West – FayerWayer

The final chapter of the walkthrough Kanye West by Adidas. The sneaker company’s CEO has announced that it will no longer sell Yeezy products after 2023. when supplies run out this year.

All of this comes after breaking up the business house with West, due to anti-Semitic statements and erratic behavior of the artist in 2022.

Bjorn Gulden, The head of Adidas explained this in a telephone conversation with analysts, which is quoted by a specialized portal. Retail dive.

“The Yeezy product is what he created, he is the inventor and we were his partners,” Gulden said. “Take your designs and sell them later, what we could do technically legally, This is not part of our strategy.”

“Our challenge now,” the Adidas CEO stressed, “is to limit damage, get rid of inventory, use the profits for good… and build a business later without Yeezy.”

The blow was not as strong for Adidas as expected

After the breakup between Adidas and Kanye West, both sides decided to sell the items that were left in stock and donate a significant portion to human rights organizations.

Company executives say they have earned more than $441 million in sales thanks to the first sale of Yeezy products, 20% of total inventory. The company will continue to sell what remains gradually.

Although losses were expected, They were not as tough as expected.

“The core business of Adidas turned out a little better than we expected,” Gulden said. “While we still have too many slow-moving stocks in the market, direct sales are improving.”

“We also saw a significant improvement in gross profit in our core business compared to the first quarter (…) The sale of the first part of Yeezy stock is of course It helped both our bottom line and at the end of the quarter.”