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A Merriam business is shutting its doors, and the owner says tariffs are to blame.
My Home Contemporary Furniture has been part of the Merriam community for four years, but owner Henrik Svendsen has been in the furniture business for 35. He says he’s never struggled like this before, and now, rising tariffs have pushed his store to the brink.
He says the Liberation Day tariff announcement made it clear — he had no choice but to close.
“I made the right decision. I mean, I cannot stay in business," Svendsen said.
Svendsen says 90% of his furniture is imported from countries around the world. Many items come from China. With tariffs on Chinese imports now totaling 145%, his costs have skyrocketed.
Manufacturing in the U.S., he says, isn’t a realistic solution. High labor and material costs would only push prices further out of reach for his middle-income customers.
“Yes, the 1% can afford an expensive sofa that's made in the US, but the 99% would like to buy a nice sofa that's maybe half the price,” Svendsen said.
Svendsen currently has a container on its way to the U.S. He says the tariffs on just that one shipment are staggering.
“That’s stuff I have to pay before I can receive the goods," he said. "Right now, to receive that container, I have to pay like $47,500.00 just in tariffs on a container."
Svendsen’s store will close in August. He doesn’t plan to order new inventory but hopes to sell what he has, around $2 million in stock, without taking a major loss.
