Adidas to leave Strasbourg after 60 years
Sportswear brand adidas, headquartered in Herzogenaurach in Germany, has indicated plans to consolidate all French teams under a single roof by 2024.
According to local publication Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, the move will render a yet-to-be-named site in the French capital the brand’s new in-country corporate headquarters, marking a departure from the norm of over 60 years, during which time the city of Strasbourg served in this capacity.
Adidas has roughly 750 France-based employees at present, the majority of which work in retail or sales roles. The move will not affect these employees. It will, however, have an impact on the roughly 140 individuals who work in support roles from Strasbourg. Around 130 adidas staff currently work in a support capacity in the brand's Parisian offices.
Managing director for adidas South Europe, Mathieu Sidokpohou, told local media that the closure of the Strasbourg site was due to post-pandemic restructuring, in response to new ways of working. Consideration had also been given to proximity of key partners, he said.
Plans submitted to works council members do not involve the relocation of the Strasbourg site’s support employees, however. Rather, adidas announced that it intends to “completely innovate” its workplace systems and processes in France.
“Our ambition is to involve all our Strasbourg colleagues in this new chapter,” the company commented. “We are going to allow everyone to remain anchored in Strasbourg while continuing a career at adidas. This project will make it possible to envisage by mid-2024 either an accompaniment to the move, or for those who do not wish to do so, the implementation of real flexibility [such as] teleworking to minimise the possible impacts."
The brand also told reporters that the move to Paris would have no impact on its existing commitments to local Strasbourg sports teams.
This year’s adidas 10k Paris race. Credit: Bastien Seon.
