Johnson City small business owners start to feel impact of tariffs
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — After the Trump administration rolled out tariffs on other countries, businesses in the Tri-Cities are left wondering how that will affect them and their customers.
Two Johnson City business owners–one a flower shop and the other a gaming business–both said they are seeing some effects from tariffs, and they're doing what they can to keep the doors open and customers happy.
May is a busy time of year for William Cate. He co-owns Anna Marie's Florist in Johnson City with Brandon Roberts.
'This is the Olympics for us,' Cate said. 'But we always say Mother's Day is the Olympics because it lines up with the start of spring graduations, proms, and then Mother's Day, just to top it all off.'
During their busiest time of year, Cate said he's starting to see tariffs affect some items he uses.
'Wrapping paper, twine is just an accouterment that we use in our floral arranging,' Cate said. 'Those were the first increases that we saw.'
Cate says he's doing all he can to avoid passing price hikes onto customers.
'They (the tariffs) have been significant,' he said. 'The real central mission of our business is to provide service and value to the people of Johnson City.'
Johnson City Chamber Director of Marketing Cooper Reaves said the chamber has distributed a survey on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to gauge the impact the tariffs have had so far.
In downtown Johnson City, Retro Mansion owner Jerry Miller said tariffs have forced him to raise prices on accessories and gaming systems, with Nintendo and Xbox systems costing nearly $100 more.
'Our biggest downfall is, some people think it's your fault because you're raising the prices they're buying. But you have to explain to people, most people understand,' Miller said.
Both Cate and Miller stress the importance of buying local.
'You make good connections with people, and you can trust it,' Miller said. 'Everything's online, but you don't know what you're getting till you see it in person. A lot of times, there's issues and stuff, so it's good to have someone in person to make that connection.'
'We're there when they [community] have their first kid, we're there when they have their first date, we're there for the proposal, we're there for the wedding,' Cate said. 'So we were just a part of their lives, and we're so happy to be able to provide them that service.'
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