DEARBORN, Mich. – Small business owners strategize and speak out as the tit-for-tat over tariffs continues.
Local 4 has already heard from leaders in the auto industry and funeral services, and now, fresh perspectives are emerging from the bridal industry.
Across the bridal sector, there’s a lot of positive momentum.
“Everyone is starting to get engaged. Weddings are happening again, so we are excited,” said Hana Abboud, founder and designer of the bridal shop bearing her name in Dearborn.
However, as the wedding season ramps up, bridal salons like Abboud’s are also grappling with the realities of tariffs.
“It’s not a fun conversation that we have to have, but it’s a reality that we’re all facing right now as small business owners,” Abboud said.
Abboud specializes in a variety of custom gowns, including those for the modest bride.
Yet, the potential impact of tariffs has her concerned about her business and her brides planning their big day.
“In our industry, specifically, a majority of the dresses are actually made and produced in China, which is now facing a 145% tariff, which is insane, if you ask me. So that does put a big damper on what we can afford to purchase and bring into the country and how much we have to charge our consumers because we can’t foot the whole bill by ourselves, as business owners,” Abboud said.
Abboud is taking proactive steps and being transparent with her clients to address these challenges. She recently posted a message on her shop’s Instagram.
In the video post, Abboud said, “We’re going to pass on a very nominal fee to our brides. I’m prefacing it with this: I am covering a majority of it.”
The bridal shop owner explained clients can expect to see a line item of about five percent to help cover tariffs if they order a gown after April 18.
“The reason I want to do it as a line item is if, for some reason, between the day you order and the day your dress comes in, tariffs are gone, I’m not charging it at all. It’s stupid,” Abboud advised in the video.
While the prices of the dresses themselves aren’t changing, the tariff costs passed on to clients could.
She went on to explain in her Instagram video post, “And I hate this. I hate it. Hate this so much. This is so stupid to me as a business owner.”
For now, Abboud is keeping a pulse on tariffs while focusing on her brides.
“For them to upend everything, cause a trade war, have us scrambling to try to figure out what to do with our businesses, it’s really having a ripple effect across the whole country,” Abboud said.
This is just one bridal shop’s approach to addressing tariffs. However, Abboud tells me the policy is impacting vendors across the wedding industry.
Even florists are having tough conversations with their customers and suppliers.
