His message to shop owners: Don't even think about selling our shoes to Amazon. In a blistering five-page email obtained by The Washington Post, David Kahan derided the online behemoth for contacting shop owners and offering to buy their products at full price.
Birkenstock stopped selling its shoes on Amazon earlier this year, citing a rise in counterfeit products and unauthorized sellers.
Amazon, in an attempt to grow even bigger, has recently ramped up its efforts to stock its site with third-party goods. In past weeks, the company has contacted tens of thousands of U.S. retailers, asking them to join its Fulfillment by Amazon program, which is already established in Europe. Among the merchants it contacted were shoe stores that sell only Birkenstocks. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)
In the email, Kahan called the entreaty a “desperate act” and a “PERSONAL AFFRONT.”
