Foot Locker withdraws from adidas YEEZY sale

The retailer has revised its plans due to high reputational risks.

Footwear retailer Foot Locker has decided to refuse to restock adidas YEEZY. In the recent past, the company had indicated its intention to expand the offer but revised its plans due to high reputational risks.

Foot Locker had already purchased a new batch of sneakers over the summer, but after the first shipment arrived, it withdrew from further participation in the YEEZY stock fulfillment. The company withdrew from the project, fearing backlash from consumers and the professional community.

It was originally reported that Foot Locker could bring back adidas YEEZY as early as August 2023. The retailer stopped selling the sneaker in October 2022 after its relationship with Kanye West was severed by adidas.

“[Our company does] not tolerate any form of antisemitism, or hateful and discriminatory behavior. While we remain a partner with adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections – we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites.” – the statement read.

However, early August saw additions to the collection in stores, including the adidas YEEZY Slide in “Bone,” “Glow Green,” “Slate Grey” “Slate Marine” colorways as well as the adidas YEEZY BOOST 350 V2 in “Slate Onyx,” “Bone,” “Grey/Black,” “HyperSpace” and “Static Grey.”