MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We are following breaking news from the Supreme Court, where the justices ruled 6-3 that President Trump's tariff policies are unconstitutional. This ruling is a major blow for Trump's signature economic policy. The case focused on how tariffs were applied to foreign imports. Many small business owners across the country have spoken out about how tariffs were hurting their businesses.
And I have one of them with me now, Jennifer Bergman. She owned a toy store in New York for 44 years that was first started by her mom. She closed it in July. She says the tariffs were just the last straw. Jennifer, welcome back. Thanks so much for joining us once again.
JENNIFER BERGMAN: Thanks so much for having me.
MARTIN: So, Jennifer, you know, your business, West Side Kids, was a neighborhood institution. Why do you say that the tariffs were the last straw?
BERGMAN: Well, you know, tariffs are a tax. People - I had to raise my prices. I had to - my vendors weren't shipping me the products that we - or, you know, some of our bestselling toys. People were tightening their belts. And it just reduced our sales.
MARTIN: And obviously, you know, all small businesses, especially, you know, small, independent stores like yours - independent toy stores, independent bookstores, a lot of them have struggled over the years because they've been, you know, the competition from online shopping, et cetera. The shutdowns with COVID and so forth. But why such a significant impact on a store like yours? Is it because so many toys come from China?
BERGMAN: Yeah. I mean, you know, most toys are manufactured in China. There's a misconception that only sort of junky and inexpensive toys are manufactured in China. But, in fact, most of the manufacturers and, you know, companies that make toys, that design toys in Europe and across the globe, manufacture in China. Manufacturing of toys in China is a well-oiled machine. It's top quality. Their safety measures are really high standard. I mean, it's sort of the opposite of what people think.
MARTIN: So it's not just, like, what people would say, like, these junky things that you pick up in some tourist shop.
BERGMAN: No.
MARTIN: It's, like, brands that people know, you know...
BERGMAN: Right. Right.
MARTIN: High-quality toys. So many of them come from China, and that's where the tariffs kind of were hitting harder. Was it also sort of - I don't know what word to use - the chaos of it? The tariffs were this rate...
BERGMAN: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...And then they were this other rate.
BERGMAN: Yeah.
MARTIN: And then they were some other rate. Was it that?
BERGMAN: Yeah, exactly.
MARTIN: Was that part of it?
BERGMAN: Exactly. I mean, it took over our day. I mean, I was getting emails and phone calls and letters from vendors every day saying we're not bringing anything in, or we're going to raise our prices 15%, or we're going to raise our prices 30%. We spent all day just changing prices in the computer, making sure that the things were priced correctly on the shelves. You know, something goes up 15%, it's not something that we could just, you know, take care of and not pass on to our customers.
MARTIN: Sure.
BERGMAN: My margins just aren't that big.
MARTIN: So I guess hearing this news this morning must've been bittersweet since you've already closed your store.
BERGMAN: Bittersweet, but also a relief for my fellow retailers and consumers across the country that hopefully there'll be some relief. We all know how expensive things are getting. And it's just such a struggle for all of us. Again, it was a tax on us. You know, no one, you know, in other countries was paying this tax except for the consumers.
MARTIN: Before we let you go,30 seconds left here, I understand that you started a new chapter. You're, what, helping other toy stores now, is that right?
BERGMAN: Yeah, exactly. So we're doing - we started a company called ToyBox.NYC. And we connect local toy stores with local toy drives for local kids in New York City.
MARTIN: Wow. Well, good luck with that.
BERGMAN: Thank you so much.
MARTIN: Yeah. That's Jennifer Bergman. And she closed her New York toy store, West Side Kids, in July after 44 years. The store was started by her mom. Jennifer Bergman, thank you.
BERGMAN: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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