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Retailers warn tariffs and retaliatory measures could dent Canadian tourism, shrink downtown foot traffic and cost jobs
Summary
Mark Sherman of Outdoor Gear Exchange and Forrest Harger of Burton told legislators that tariffs will raise wholesale prices, force inventory and ordering changes, and likely reduce Canadian visitor spending that supports downtown Vermont businesses; they urged state relief measures and local marketing to sustain retail vibrancy.
Mark Sherman, founding owner of Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, and Forrest Harger, vice president at Burton, told a joint legislative hearing on April 9 that new tariffs and retaliatory measures are raising wholesale prices and threatening downtown retail traffic tied to Canadian tourism.
Sherman said about 85% of Outdoor Gear Exchange’s goods are made overseas or contain overseas components and that recent price increases from vendors are already arriving in real time. “If the price of our goods go up by 25%,” he told the committee, the store will need “25% more financing or…reduce the size of our orders in units,” which could shrink assortment and push customers to…
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