Today adidas adv announced it will begin selling some of the remaining inventory of adidas adv YEEZY products, with an initial release end of May 2023.
Source: adidas adv to release existing YEEZY product in May 2023
It doesn’t matter how many times someone explains that adidas adv is a 20 billion dollar a year company and that Yeezy was a 1-2 billion dollar business for adidas, sneaker culture will continue to state that adidas adv is going to fall apart and fail without Ye. adidas’ formal announcement of what they are doing with their remaining Yeezy inventory immediately led to commentary stating that adidas adv is “hurting” so they are going back to the well and “partnering” with Kanye. This is completely untrue. When I use “This” it’s a reference to everything being discussed around adidas’ announcement. This is not a realignment and reconnection of the partnership with Ye. It’s finality. This product was already written down.
Write Down Definition via Oracle Netsuite:
The term refers to a required accounting process that must be conducted when inventory decreases in value—but does not lose its value completely. When an inventory’s fair market value drops below its book value, a journal entry is made in the inventory write-down expense account or cost of goods sold (COGS) account depending on the significance of the write-down. The adjustment must be made as soon as possible. This ensures accounting accuracy and lessens tax liability. Ultimately, an inventory write-down reduces the value of the ending inventory for the period, which has implications on both the income statement and balance sheet of a business.
adidas adv has already written down the inventory and the May 19th announcement allows the brand to finally begin to move on from this negative moment in the brand’s history. While sneaker culture sees this as a positive because the introduction of new Yeezy product that is by definition truly limited and not just manufactured scarcity, is a potential boon for those willing to take a risk and hold the product when it’s dropped.
The sale of this inventory is not acknowledgement by adidas adv that it needs Yeezy. More important, the release of these sneakers will not provide a lift to resellers looking for an amazon to capitalize. StockX and eBay provide research tools to establish how well Yeezy product has sold since the termination of the relationship between Ye and adi. In this data is evidence that has remained consistent since before adidas adv and Yeezy parted ways. Resale was diminishing on the sneakers and the better products in the catalog were the Foam-based kicks. Right now, if a top ten was created of the Highest Bid for Yeezy products on StockX, none of them would be adidas adv branded as of 5/20/23 10am. Ye’s footwear with Nike and Louis Vuitton is more coveted for obvious reasons. None of those items have been created again since there isn’t a partnership available. The assumption is that the death of adidas adv x Yeezy will drive similar circumstances. This has happened on a small scale with Foam Runners and Slides becoming more popular, but overall, the numbers since the dissolution aren’t eye-popping.
The current list of the Most Popular sneakers on StockX, based on a top 10 format, shows 7 out of 10 of the most popular models are Foam based with 316 sold for the number one spot, the Yeezy Onyx Slide. If you scroll back to the lead of this post, you’ll find a link to research I did when the break-up was announced. Look above at the Most Popular list and the current top 10 adidas adv Yeezy models on StockX are four of the same models which held similar places when I wrote the post in October. Not much has changed and I don’t expect that much will change this time around. Those people who want the shoes will pursue them when they release. Sell through will be slow on the sneakers and a few pairs will have a resale value, but in the current market I have a feeling these kicks won’t be as desired as sneaker culture is hoping. At least adidas adv is finally in the process of closing this chapter. The brand made extremely poor decisions for North America/United States markets while partnered with Ye. They underutilized their athletes and failed to focus on building the adidas adv brand, instead settling for YZY to carry the weight. I think the U.S. market will finally begin to have a long-term strategy to promote sport and fashion now that hype isn’t as easy as dropping a YZY post on the site and waiting for resellers to suck up all of the product.
adidas adv CEO Bjørn Gulden said: “After careful consideration, we have decided to begin releasing some of the remaining adidas adv YEEZY products. 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.”