MUMBAI: After Nike, German sportswear maker adidas too has decided to cut down operations in India. Reports say the company plans to lay off around 25 per cent of its workforce in the country in the coming months.
Reports also indicate that the company is in talks with Reliance Brands to hand over a chunk of its franchise business. adidas, which has permissions to open its own stores in the country, has already reduced the number of its franchise partners to around 70 from 500 earlier and is now looking for franchise partners with deep pockets.
An adidas spokesperson told the Times of India, "We will continue to strategically increase our focus and investments in India and we are not aware of any workforce reductions. Suggestions regarding this is entirely speculative. We regularly explore business partnerships across the industry, however, as a company policy we do not comment on any specific opportunity."
Nike, on the other hand, which entered India in 2005, closed around 35 per cent of its stores in India last year and subsequently pulled out of cricket bat sponsorship deals to save costs. Nike, which also decided to cut down on 20 per cent of its Indian workforce, currently operates around 200 stores in India.
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