Virtually nothing sold at Toy Joy — an Austin staple since 1987 — is manufactured in the United States.
The stores’ colorful rows of action figures, board games, stuffed animals and other novelties mostly come from China, Thailand and Japan — three countries hit hard by President Trump’s tariff plan that will go into effect Wednesday. Imported goods from those countries will have 54%, 36% and 24% tariffs applied to them, respectively.
Robby Pettinato, the chief operating officer of Toy Joy, said some of those products already come at a higher cost because of their uber-popularity or because they are made in high-quality production facilities.
“Having tariffs built on top of that can cause some of these products to be unsustainable to even carry,” he said. “We have to maybe kill some product lines because no one's going to want to spend $12 for a bag of Japanese potato chips.”
One goal behind Trump’s tariff plan is to bring more manufacturing to the U.S, but Pettinato said that doesn’t really apply to his business. A big selling point at Toy Joy is its product line of rare, foreign products you can’t get just anywhere.
The new tariffs haven’t taken effect yet, but Pettinato said many vendors he works with have been bracing for impact by “exorbitantly” raising prices, forcing Toy Joy to pass that cost onto its customers.
But Pettinato hopes the experience of going to Toy Joy in person — being able to touch and play with toys while enjoying a scoop of ice cream — will keep it competitive with big box stores despite the price hikes.
"Having tariffs built on top of that can cause some of these products to be unsustainable to even carry. To the point where we have to maybe kill some product lines because no one's going to want to spend $12 for a bag of Japanese potato chips."Toy Joy COO Robby Pettinato
“I’m hoping people understand that the value of that is baked into our retail pricing, which might be a little bit higher than Amazon or Target,” he said. “But it helps keep your money in the community.”
That’s what Jordy Schneider, a 24-year-old from Austin and Sonny Angels collector, said she intends to do.
“Me, personally, and I know a lot of my friends have boycotted a lot of larger companies and have focused on spending our money on smaller companies and businesses to try to support them more during this time," she said. "That’s what I’m going to continue doing.”
Pettinato said if the tariff plan is still in effect by the end of the year, every product at Toy Joy will likely be more expensive. But, he said toys are surprisingly more recession-proof compared to other nonessential goods.
“I’m concerned, because how the economy is doing definitely affects us, but I’m hopeful that people will still have the urge to want to get something for their kids to make them happy despite troubling times," he said. "Or get something for themselves, despite troubling times.”
