What impact have tariffs had on a Montgomery County shoe store?
Marina Fradlin started ordering shoes for the back-to-school shopping rush in June, so it wasn’t a problem when some of the merchandise started arriving a little bit later than expected.
Even when she ordered something for June and it was late, it still arrived in July.
Fradlin, who has owned Shoe Train in Cabin John Village since 2011, said when back-to-school shopping ramps up next week, inventory should be largely unaffected by the delays. Some things were a little late, but it’s “not going to be an overwhelming issue,” she said.
The delay is the result of challenges that vendors have been working through since the spring, Fradlin said. Because of changing tariff policies, she said containers with merchandise could be on ships, “but they’re not going anywhere because once they hit the water is when the tariffs apply.”
President Donald Trump this week announced a series of new tariffs on products from various countries, but the potential impact is still unclear. While they could affect the prices of items, such as coffee or clothing, Fradlin said she’s been monitoring the evolving circumstances since March.
The manufacturer portion of the chain is late, “So we’re not getting it,” Fradlin said of some products.
“We’re going to run out of certain items,” Fradlin said. “I don’t know which ones yet, but you’re not going to have your first choice. If a child is coming in here and they need a Velcro sneaker, they’re going to get a Velcro sneaker. They might not get their first choice or their second choice, but they’re getting a Velcro sneaker.”
In some instances, Fradlin said companies, such as Adidas and New Balance, have absorbed any increased costs as a result of tariffs, so prices aren’t going up. But companies, such as Tsukihoshi which Fradlin said is popular, “They’re not able to absorb as much of the cost.”
“The increase has been no more than 10%,” Fradlin said, adding her prices have only increased a few dollars as a result.
An Italian vendor Fradlin works with had some items made in Serbia and others made in Asia, so they initially had to change costs based on where the manufacturing was. But then, she said, they “ended up stabilizing everything at the same increase.”
In most cases, while the store has passed on some of the cost increase, Fradlin said, “We have had very little pushback, even on items that we sell quite often.”
The bigger tariff impact has been on customer behavior, Fradlin said. In March, people feared there would be a shortage, which prompted some to buy their favorite shoe in the next size up to make sure they could get it.
Customers seem to be anticipating price hikes and are tightening their wallets, Fradlin said. Early in the back-to-school season, “We’re seeing people spending a little bit less, kind of pulling back because they’re nervous. And I think that’s just based on the overall vibe more than anything they’re actually seeing.”
Some orders the store made for the fall are shipped by ocean liners, so “they had to sit in Chinese ports because the vendor was like, ‘I’m not paying. We can’t afford the tariffs when they were super high.’”
However, tariffs aren’t a new concept, Fradlin said, emphasizing how stores navigated comparable challenges during the pandemic.
“We got through COVID,” Fradlin said. “Prices were raised during COVID and passed on to us, and so we had to mark things up.”