Yeezy Shoes Still Stuck In Limbo After Adidas Split With Ye

Adidas is trying to figure out what to do with the 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) worth of unsold Yeezy stock. It is weighing on the German sportswear company as it tries to engineer a turnaround from the loss of the money making sneaker line and the continued fallout over its former ties to Ye.

Adidas is “getting closer and closer to making a decision” on what to do with the sneakers and the “options are narrowing,” new CEO Bjorn Gulden said in a conference call Friday after reporting 400 million euros ($441 million) in lost sales at the start of the year.

Adidas is stuck with stacks of its flagship Yeezy brand shoes after ending its relationship with Ye in October over his antisemitic and other offensive comments on social media and in interviews.

Gulden would not say how many pairs of Yeezy shoes that Adidas is stuck holding “because then the consumer would know how many we have and that could have an impact on demand.”

The Ye split also cost Adidas 600 million euros in lost sales in the last three months of 2022, helping drive the company to a net loss of 513 million euros.