Adidas has refused to cut the price of All Blacks jerseys despite a threat from the country's largest retailer to pull the tops from shelves.
An All Blacks replica jersey, manufactured by adidas, is available for $220 in New Zealand retail stores, but listed for sale at $US79.99 ($NZ92.68) on the
website www.worldrugby.com.
Adidas was due to meet with Rebel Sport and Briscoes general manager Rod Duke to discuss the difference in price after he earlier slammed it as being ``not damn fair.''
When asked by the New Zealand Herald if he would send the All Blacks jerseys back if adidas did not lower the price, he said: ``You can rest assured, that will be the tone of my conversations.''
Adidas New Zealand manager David Huggett said it understood people's concerns but would be sticking by its retail price.
``We're comfortable our price to the local retail trade is a reasonable one,'' Mr Huggett said in a statement released tonight.
The price of the All Blacks jersey was comparable to other replica jerseys being sold in the country, he said.
``Larger retail markets like the United Kingdom and United States often have lower retail cost structures,'' Mr Huggett said.
He said the price of the All Blacks replica jersey had not changed since May 2009, with the exception of the GST increase last year.
Mr Huggett said rugby fans knew they were supporting New Zealand rugby when they bought a replica All Blacks jersey.
``We invest millions of dollars in Kiwi rugby from grassroots through to the All Blacks, including a major investment in the state-of-the-art All Black jersey.''
People being able to buy jerseys for a cheaper price online was no different to being able to buy cosmetics or other consumer products more cheaply from offshore retailers, he said.
