LA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) — Shopping for clothes at local boutiques like Uneeke Boutique in La Mesa could become more expensive due to new tariffs.
Owner Kim Purchase is already noticing the impact on her business.
Uneeke Boutique, located on the corner of Nebo Drive, has weathered challenges such as the La Mesa riots and temporary pandemic closures. Purchase knows her customers well and is committed to offering them fresh fashion options.
"We've survived the La Mesa riots and having to close temporarily during the pandemic," Purchase said. "They know that something new is gonna be in whether it's something for work, something for play, whatever the case may be."
The introduction of new tariffs is raising concerns for Purchase regarding pricing.
"I don't know if I'm gonna be able to keep the prices at that minimal, raise them, but still keep them at a valuable shoppable price," she said.
Recently, one of Purchase's suppliers emailed her, stating they needed to raise prices due to tariff impacts. According to Purchase, "there's a lot of showrooms that have sent memos saying that they're gonna have to increase their prices from $2 to $17."
Typically, customers find a 20 percent discount sticker in the store, but Purchase says that may soon change.
"I'll probably do maybe once a month instead of every other week, twice a week or twice a month. Um, it just all depends on the foot traffic," she said.
Dr. Alan Gin, an economics professor at the University of San Diego, says that these new tariffs will hit the clothing industry hard, particularly after the setbacks caused by the pandemic.
"You combine that then with the internet coming on and people shopping online again, made worse by the pandemic, the brick-and-mortar stores have been under a lot of pressure," Gin said.
He believes the clothing industry will be one of the hardest hit industries. The Yale Budget Lab estimates textile prices may increase by 44 percent, impacting the overall cost of clothing.
The sticker shock will be hard to avoid. "People are gonna have to spend more money on other products—things like food—so that might mean they have less money to spend on things like clothing," Gin told ABC 10News.
As for Purchase, she remains dedicated to providing quality clothing at reasonable prices.
"I think if I'm able to make sure that I still have quality clothing and if I do have to raise my prices, that it is still reasonably priced for my customers," Purchase said.
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