ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
If you visit a mom-and-pop store in America today, you're likely to see a frenzy of number crunching as business owners try to figure out how to cover the costs of President Trump's tariffs. NPR's Alina Selyukh met an entrepreneurial team at a crossroads.
ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: You know the classic Charles Dickens quote, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times?" Rozalynn Goodwin and her daughter Gabby are living a bit of that with their business in South Carolina.
ROZALYNN GOODWIN: We had been working as a mother-daughter team tirelessly for 11 years, literally from the kitchen table to patenting a product.
SELYUKH: They'd invented GaBBY Bows, plastic barrettes that promise to actually stay put on kids' pigtails, braids or twists. Here's Gabby Goodwin at age 9 in a video pitch.
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GABBY GOODWIN: They have two faces so you can see the design both ways. And it has teeth and craters to trap the hair.
SELYUKH: They'd been selling GaBBY Bows mostly online, and then, a few months ago, came a huge break.
R GOODWIN: Our dream retailer approached us to launch in 876 stores this fall.
SELYUKH: A deal with Claire's, a massive retailer for hair accessories - in a movie, this would be a scene of them popping champagne - nonalcoholic for Gabby, who is now 18. Instead...
R GOODWIN: There was great pause with this great development.
SELYUKH: Because GaBBY Bows are made in China, and so far this year, the White House has raised tariffs on Chinese imports three times, now totaling 54%. That would eat all of Goodwin's profits as a supplier to hundreds of Claire's stores.
R GOODWIN: Is it worth losing money for a dream retailer? And that's the question we had to ask ourselves.
SELYUKH: The math looked so tricky, she even solicited business advice about maybe turning down this deal.
R GOODWIN: Hopefully, by the time we launch, we're able to smile about it, but I haven't (laughter) been able to smile yet.
SELYUKH: Goodwin says she wishes she could make her bows in the U.S.
R GOODWIN: We have, for the last eight years, been trying to manufacture GaBBY Bows in the United States. Every manufacturer in the United States we've spoken to has told us, you need to continue making this in China. It's going to cost you three to four times more to make it here in the United States.
SELYUKH: GaBBY Bows cost $4 for a pack of 10. Goodwin says her shoppers will not spend $12 or $14 on barrettes. So for now, she's trying to raise funds, hunkering down and preparing to lose money on her huge dream retail deal.
Alina Selyukh, NPR News.
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