09/08/2026
This year has been the most complicated and difficult to navigate as a business owner; yes, far worse than COVID, and I think worse than the Great Recession, even though the Great Recession almost destroyed Arcadia entirely. The on again, off again, up and down tariff situation that seemingly changes daily for more than a year now has made it impossible to predict what anything actually costs which is devastating for a store that imports from all over the world.
Tariff bills often show up as much as 8 weeks after delivery; I have resorted to total guesswork on pricing certain items because I literally do not know what the actual cost is but I need to put the product out for sale given my limited window of sales opportunity for seasonal items.
The prime example of this is our Turkish towels. Subject to the "standard" 10% tariff plus 2.5% processing fees, they are designed and imported into the US from British Columbia. Unfortunately, my most recent delivery got delayed at the border and crossed over the day AFTER the newest punitive tariffs against Canada went into effect, an additional 50%. Since Fedex won't send me my bill for several more weeks, no one knows how Fedex will calculate my tariff bill. 12.5%? 62.5%?
So I crunched the numbers on my own and adjusted my retail price as little as possible, so that towels that started at $54.95 in May, then went up to $59.95 in July (when I got my first tariff bill from May), are now $69.95 in anticipation of the next tariff bill.
HOWEVER. IF when my Fedex bill actually arrives, the number is lower than what I calculated, EVERY customer who paid $69.95 will see a $10 credit to the credit card used, no work required on your part at all. While my system does not show me your credit card numbers for your security, it does preserve enough data so that I can refund you - so that is exactly what I will do.
I HATE this mess. I would imagine almost everyone outside the White House does. I certainly know my family and friends in Canada hate it. I can't control any of that. What I can do, though, I will do. If I don't pay the newest tariffs, neither will you. Simple enough.
Now if only those big corporations did the same thing.... (screengrab from today's NY Times)
