Adidas To Start Selling Kanye's Shoes Again, Donate Proceeds
Adidas is reportedly gearing up to bring its unsold inventory of Kanye West's Yeezy merchandise to market. Now, it sounds like we're going to see if people are ready to buy anything with the disgraced rapper's name on it.
The sportswear giant severed ties with West after he made several antisemitic statements last year.
His line of Yeezy footwear and clothing was immensely popular. Over time, it accounted for 10% of Adidas' sales, according to The Washington Post.
At first, they considered rebranding the items and selling them at a discount. Then they decided against that.
So, it's no secret this created a headache for the company.
Adidas Has To Get Rid Of All The Left Over Yeezy Stock
Earlier this year, there were reports that Adidas was facing huge losses if they couldn't move the massive inventory of unsold Yeezy items. There was even speculation that they'd go ahead and burn it.
Now, according to The Washington Post, chief executive Bjorn Gulden said they will not go the burning route.
“Burning is not the solution,” chief executive Bjorn Gulden said at Adidas' annual shareholders' meeting.
Technically, that's not true. It is a solution to this problem. Just not the one they wanted or ultimately went with.
“What we are trying to do over time is to sell parts of these goods and then donate to organizations that help us and that also have been hurt by Kanye’s statements,” Gulden said.
While Ye — as he prefers to be called these days — has been a real thorn in the German company's side, Gulden, was still complimentary of his creative acumen.
“He is a difficult person, but he’s arguably the most creative person in our industry,” he said. “He created a model with Adidas that was sought after around the world."
Did finding the hilarity of Jonah Hill fix his and Adidas' problems? We shall soon see.
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