Toy shop owners brace for rising holiday prices amid tariffs

DUBLIN, Ohio — As families begin planning for the holidays, small toy stores like Dublin Toy Emporium are already bracing for rising costs as ongoing tariffs and global price increases are pushing prices up daily.

Enas Lanham, who owns the Dublin Toy Europium, said she sources toys from a variety of international vendors, but behind the shelves of whimsical toys lies a growing financial strain.

“I buy from a lot of different vendors beautiful wooden German toys, French dolls, they’re just classic,” Lanham said.

She’s now seeing more warnings from those vendors about price increases, with some urging her to stock up before costs rise again. 

“Stock up, they will kind of tell you by this date the price may go up, so they’re kind of giving you a heads-up,” Lanham said.

Toy prices rose for the third straight month in June, climbing 1.8%, according to the Consumer Price Index. Industry leaders say the impact of tariffs, particularly on imports from China, which accounts for about 80% of toy production, is a key driver.

Lanham said she tried to get ahead of the price hikes by ordering early. But for many small businesses, the uncertainty is hard to manage.

“I did a lot of buying before, and of course the vendors are saying, ‘Buy things before the prices go up,’” she said.

Jeff Haymond, a professor of economics at Cedarville University, said any resolution to the ongoing trade dispute likely won’t come quickly.

“No matter how he [President Trump] spins this, tariffs will result in increased costs,” Haymond said. “Trade deals take a long time to be implemented. But the large base market uncertainty, I expect to be done in the next two to three months.”

As shoppers begin to think ahead to the holiday season, Lanham encourages families to consider buying earlier than usual and to support local businesses where they can.

“The customers that come in, they do value local,” she said.