Helen Pridmore adjusts lamps and sets price tags in her lighting store. When she makes her way back to her laptop at the front desk, one email from a supplier stands out.
“As of May 1, prices may increase by up to 50%.”
Emails like this one haven’t stopped coming since April 4, when the beginning effects of federal tariffs started hitting Pridmore’s business, Lighting Unlimited + Uncommon Living. Nearly every product Pridmore sells relies on overseas manufacturing, especially from China. And like many small business owners, Pridmore is bracing for impact as tariffs on imports keep changing.
“If I were younger, I would probably be handling it a lot worse than I am right now,” Pridmore said “But I lost my husband four months ago, so this is not the worst thing. Frankly, I’m just glad he’s not here to see it because it took us 34 years to build this business, and it could go down the drain in six months.”
Tariffs are taxes placed on imported goods and are calculated as a percentage of the product’s price.
President Donald Trump placed a 10% universal tariff on goods entering the United States, which took effect on April 2. Reciprocal tariffs targeting key U.S. trading partners took effect on April 9, including China (104%), Japan (24%), Vietnam (46%) and Europe (20%). Later that day, Trump’s administration announced a 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs, except for China’s. As of press time Friday, Chinese imports were under a 145% tariff.
“You want to know how many lighting manufacturers there are in the United States of America?” Pridmore said. “Zero. Lighting comes from China. Just about every electrical component comes from China.”
Current stock vs. future business
Two days after the first tariff took effect, Pridmore received a letter from Westgate, a major lighting supplier, warning of price hikes up to 50%. Pridmore said the costs won’t hit customers immediately, but once current stock is gone, prices will rise.
“Pretty much everybody is saying anything you buy before May 1, what they already have in stock, you can get at the old price,” Pridmore said. “After May 1, everything is off the table.”
Pridmore said consumers will soon be paying at least 10-30% more for lighting products. What she worries most is what will happen when people stop buying altogether.
“It’s not that prices are going up because demand is going up,” Pridmore said. “It’s going up, and people aren’t going to buy it at all.”
Ron Rivers, owner of Magnolia Business Systems, faces similar challenges. His company sells printers, scanners and other office technology, few of which are made in North America.
“If I could buy a copier that prints, scans and copies and is manufactured in the United States, that would be the first thing I’d do,” Rivers said. “But nobody in my industry has a factory on this continent – not in Canada, Mexico or the United States.”
Rivers sources his equipment primarily from Japan and Malaysia. Thanks to the temporary tariff pause, he’s stockpiled some products. But Rivers suspects the relief is short-term.
“If you get anything from overseas, which is unfortunately a lot of what we get, you’re going to wind up having to pay more for it,” Rivers said. “Our prices have increased no more than 5%, which won’t keep up with a (24)% tariff, but in good conscience, I cannot go up on somebody (24)%.”
Rivers is holding steady on service contracts, but he said new clients or renewed agreements will soon reflect the 5% hike.
“The local guy is trying to compete with those out-of-town people,” Rivers said. “They can have a bad month and get over it. We have a bad month, and it takes us six months to recoup. We’re going to stay afloat. We may have to borrow a little money, but our plan is to be here through the thick and the thin.”
In the bridal industry, Blaine Walters is trying to stay optimistic.
Walters owns The Bride and Groom, a formal wear boutique that orders from designers in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Walters has already received notice of 10-20% price increases.
“The beauty is, we are an incredibly well-stocked store, so anything that is here, there would be no price increase,” Walters said. “If somebody needs a different size or color of a particular garment, we can get those in, but they would incur whatever the company is charging.”
Despite the looming challenges, Walters sees the tariffs as a necessary adjustment.
“I think it’s going to be good,” Walters said. “It’s just a matter of time that things will level out. It’ll be temporarily uncomfortable, but I truly have full faith that in the end it’s gonna work out in our favor. I’m not too worried about it.”
Pridmore isn’t so confident.
“I’m fortunate because I’m 61 years old, and I’m close to retired,” Pridmore said. “But there’s other business owners who aren’t as fortunate as me, and it’s going to hurt. If this lasts, it’s going to decimate small businesses.”
Manufacturing costs rise
Tariffs aren’t just affecting retailers. Manufacturers are feeling the strain too. Hagan Walker, CEO of Glo, a company that makes drink lights and light-up sensory toys, said nearly all of his production takes place in China.
“Our least complex product … consists of about 20 pieces, and of those pieces, only three of them have a facility in the U.S. that could make those,” Walker said. “Everything else is made outside of this country. That’s for a plastic light up ice cube.”
Walker said Glo’s manufacturing costs have already climbed roughly 20%, some of which will be passed on to customers.
“If it’s a $20 product, those will likely go up to at least $25, and you’re going to see that across the board,” Walker said.
To adjust, Glo plans to shift its product launches to other markets.
“Because we don’t have the ability and the infrastructure to bring manufacturing to the U.S., our other option is to move our priority up for our distribution partners,” Walker said. “Instead of releasing products in the U.S. first, we will release them to our partners in the (United Kingdom) and the European Union and Australia, where tariffs aren’t, and that will be our way of moving forward until we see how all this pans out.”
For now, Walker said the average American consumer may not notice a change. Warehouses are still stocked, and businesses are doing what they can to hold the line. But that won’t last forever.
“This isn’t going to happen all overnight,” Walker said. “The businesses will feel it first, and then the second wave in the coming months will be your ordinary consumer.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
