KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
One of President Donald Trump’s goals in imposing tariffs on items imported into the United States is to encourage companies to build products in the U.S.
KSHB 41 is continuing to talk about tariffs and how they're impacting you.
Sandlot Goods is a hat-manufacturing company that makes every hat it sells in Kansas City.
While many local businesses are bracing for how tariffs will impact them, Sandlot couldn't be better-positioned because it makes everything in-house.
“The bulk of our cost is our people, and that's how we like it,” said founder Chad Hickman.
Hickman said his employees are the most valuable part of Sandlot's product.
The company only imports a few things, like some fabric and clasps, so Hickman is still eyeing how tariffs could impact the shop.
“A 54% tariff on a clasp for our hat, yeah, we don't want it. It hurts. We don't want that to exist,” Hickman said. “If we have to pay a little bit more to import like a clasp for the back of a hat, we'll do that until something's available here.”
Hickman said he wears a lot of hats at Sandlot. He’s running a business, but he’s also part of a product and industry he wants to last.
“There's a shift that needs to happen in the public's eye on what is worth spending money on, and I think USA manufacturing is,” he said.
Sandlot Goods makes around 400 hats per day. The hats have been sold across the U.S., some even being purchased outside the U.S.
Embellishments manager Hannah Rosenthal helps make those numbers happen.
“It's really important that I'm looking at everything with a close eye and a really detail-oriented mind,” Rosenthal said.
Attention to detail is an important part of her job and crucial to what gives Sandlot Goods its reputation.
“I have so much respect for this kind of machinery,” Rosenthal said. “I feel like I get a really nice little glimpse into its possibilities every day.”
—