Adidas, which was reportedly set to lose out on more than $1 billion in revenue due to unsold Yeezy merch in the aftermath of its split with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, announced it will begin selling Yeezy products again beginning May 31. A “significant amount” of money from the sales will be donated to selected organizations working to “combat discrimination and hate, including racism and antisemitism,” according to an Adidas statement.

The release will mark the first time that products have been available to consumers since Adidas terminated the Yeezy partnership in October 2022 after Ye’s stream of antisemitic statements. The products sold will be existing designs and designs initiated in 2022 for sale in 2023.

The brand had considered destroying the Yeezy merchandise or donating all the shoes, but Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden stated, “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.”

Brooks Running announced the promotion of Carson Caprara to Senior Vice President of Footwear. In his new role, Caprara will lead all footwear design, development, product management, and merchandising for the brand’s global business, which exceeded $1.2 billion in revenue in 2022. Caprara has been with the brand since 2005, first as a field marketing representative and then in sales and footwear product management. He most recently served as Vice President, Footwear Product Management and Merchandising.

Forecasts of sneaker price moderation this year are proving false. Research from Centric Software’s May Sneaker Market Index shows that average prices have risen 1.5x faster this year than in all of 2022, averaging $129.60 a pair in April. That is an average $8 a pair more than in January.  At the current growth rate, consumers will pay an average of $25.31 more a pair for sneakers at the end of 2023 than in January.

It should be noted that one-third of sneakers have been sold at a discount this year-to-date versus 25 percent in 2022. Year-over-year price discounts in April were up nearly 54 percent as brands and retailers continue to manage excess inventory.

To avoid profit erosion and continued discounting, Centric is advising companies to focus on predicting trends more accurate, streamlining design and production to manage costs, and planning and producing footwear assortments tied strictly to consumer demand.

The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America estimated that U.S. consumers spent $104.8 billion on footwear last year.