Adidas Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Outlet Store Pricing

Adidas America Inc. is facing a proposed consumer class action in the Southern District of California, alleging it advertises “fictitious reference prices” and “phantom discounts” on merchandise sold in its outlet stores in the state.

Through the use of “false reference pricing,” Adidas creates “a sham price disparity” that “misleads consumers into believing they are receiving a good deal and induces them into making a purchase,” according to the complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

The practice “artificially inflates the true market price for these items by raising consumers’ internal reference price, ...