This uncertainty is evident in East Tolanta Village, a close-up community of local storefronts in the city known for its entrepreneurship and a close-up community whose headquarters are anchored by its headquarters for Home Depot, UPS, Delta Air Lines and other major brands.
The district, just a few square block southeast of where I-20 meets bustling Moreland Avenue, attracts a diverse range of young people to its restaurants, late-night music venues, tattoo parlors and newly opened comic book shops. Operators in the area are proud of their indie status. Several people complained when cookie chains across the country opened in the middle of them a few years ago.
“We haven’t all been wiped out by Amazon and Walmart,” said Victoria Park, Park Pet Supply Owner. “Main Street is still here.”
However, parks and other local business owners say they are still regaining their footing from inflation, and now they worry that the trade war will make it more difficult for value-conscious shoppers to compete. Park Pet Supply sells around 6,500 items, ranging from natural pet food to grooming products and training accessories. Many of them are sourced from Canada.
“One day there’s tariffs. The next day there’s no tariffs. The next day there’s tariffs. “Oh, no, I’m going to do 25%. No, I’m going to do 50%,” she said. “That’s very difficult to navigate when small businesses are constantly changing things.”
If customers can’t get what they want when they come here, they will find it somewhere.
Victoria Park, owner of Park Pet Supply
Park said it purchased $1,000 worth of backup stock from Canadian suppliers in January, and bought backup stocks from Canadian suppliers in January, wanting to preempt Trump’s 25% tariff on many products from the north of the border that came into effect in March. She said she has already seen prices rise for more than 20 different pet foods along with toys and collar hikes, and she fears she will have to scale back her assortment.
“If customers can’t get what they want when they come here,” Park said, “they’ll find it somewhere else.”
A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Almost a third of Georgia’s independent businesses have already seen a significant or moderate price rise from tariffs, according to a first-quarter survey of 700 such companies into capital aimed at entrepreneurs, according to a first-quarter survey of tariffs.
Ace president and CEO Martina Edwards said: “They’re balancing between what you give to the consumer.”