The German sportswear company Adidas acknowledged having “made a mistake” by deciding a few days ago not to pay rent for its stores forced to close due to the coronavirus, which then sparked outrage in Germany.
“We have made a mistake and lost a lot of confidence” admits the Herzogenaurach group in an open letter received by AFP that will be published by the press on Thursday.
In the letter entitled “adidas apologizes”, the group notes that its decision on the rents “was perceived by many as unsupportive” and claims to have paid their landlords rent for April.
Adidas, which in 2019 posted net profits of 2 billion euros (US$2.2 billion), has been hard hit by falling sales in China and massive store closures due to the epidemic that began in the asian giant.
The company, one of the best-known German brands, announced last week that it “was temporarily suspending rent payments, like many other companies.”
finance minister Olaf Schölz He then urged companies not to make drastic decisions that could harm the owners of the premises.
“It’s very annoying when big companies decide to just stop paying rentScholz said.
This Wednesday, in his apology letter, adidas It said it was in an “exceptional” situation and had to make major financial and job cuts due to the damage caused by the coronavirus to its activities.
