Matt Fantastic, the co-owner of Elm City Games in New Haven said his business will have its 10 year anniversary in February.
But Fantastic is now facing new challenges. He’s had to raise prices due to tariffs and customers are reacting accordingly during the crucial holiday shopping season.
“We had a great Black Friday overall for sales,” Fantastic said. “But the biggest trend I noticed was that the average spend was much lower.”
Fantastic compared it to last year’s Black Friday when people tended to spend more. His business is one of many small businesses now calling on Congress to act on tariffs.
A new federal bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, may provide some relief to small businesses and customers. Rep. DeLauro and small business advocates say the No Gouge Act would protect against price gouging by big box retailers while exempting small businesses.
DeLauro is one of the sponsors of the bill. Many people, she said, are now struggling with the higher costs, as a result of tariffs initiated by the federal government.
“Yale Budget Lab found that tariffs are pushing up prices by nearly $1,800 each year for every family,” DeLauro said. “Prices are not just rising, they're soaring.”
The bill comes after retailers like Walmart said it would raise prices as a result, according to DeLauro. She said the concern is , retailers would use tariffs to raise prices to unreasonable amounts.
DeLauro cited past investigations into retailers who were accused of price gouging during the pandemic.
Walmart responded to questions over the bill by forwarding a quarterly earnings call transcript from last month, where company officials said the tariffs have not had as much of an impact on the company, citing grocery items.
But officials also said average prices for items like electronics, toys and seasonal items have risen.
If passed, there would also be penalties for price gouging as a result of the tariffs.
Small business owners, which according to the bill, make less than $100 million in revenue annually are exempt, because they are not able to absorb the costs of tariffs, according to DeLauro.
“They’re small businesses, they're going to be passing on the costs because that is all they can do,” DeLauro said.
Many other small businesses throughout the state have complained about tariffs to DeLauro. Fantastic was one of the business owners who lamented to DeLauro over the tariffs.
Fantastic said his business sources much of its products from manufacturers based overseas. The tariffs have not only caused him to raise prices, but uncertainty over tariff rates, as a result of federal exemptions or ongoing trade negotiations, have forced sellers like him to order more inventory while they were cheaper, to avoid paying higher tariffs.
But they ended up facing another obstacle: shipping rates, according to him, soared as result of the onslaught of orders, but he said Elm City Games has been able to weather the challenges, so far.
“We could make plans and we could grow and invest in and do things in a way that will help us survive,” Fantastic said. But with all the uncertainty it's just crazy.”
