Local small business owners compete with online shopping, tariffs

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — With the convenience of online shopping and same-day delivery for holiday shopping, it can be tough for small businesses to compete.

Amy Craft Ahrens, the owner of For Keeps in downtown Bowling Green, grew up in the small business world. Her family owns the general store, Ben’s, down the street, where she is a manager, and they also own the store next door, The Busy Thimble.

As a small business owner of three stores, she knows she has to keep people walking in the door year after year.

“That’s one of the amazing things about small business people is that we can pivot and we can be creative to make our business work in ways that big box stores can’t,” Craft Ahrens said.

With rising costs everywhere, she said they’re not immune to the effects of tariffs.

“The biggest issue with the tariffs is just the uncertainty. You can’t plan for this. I mean, everything has gone up, not just the merchandise that we’re buying, but our costs are going up in terms of the paper bags that we use,” she said. “The cost of getting something printed, all of that has gone up, so it’s a constant struggle when you’re not making the same margin make it to make it work.”

Shelly Stoepler, co-owner of Novel Blends, a bookstore and coffee shop down the street, said she and her husband haven’t felt the effects of tariffs, but have run into issues with coffee deliveries.

“It’s been more the supply and demand of the coffee industry and the struggles that they’re having with so many more people drinking coffee these days that our suppliers are also having trouble keeping up with that,” she said.

Both business owners said they know they’re up against tough competitors with the convenience of online shopping.

“We don’t have a drive-through. Most people love convenience, so we realize how important it is that our customers are greeted with a smile and a kind word, and they want to keep coming back because of the product that we have,” Stoepler said.

“You just have to keep doing what you do best and you can’t worry about all those other things,” Crafts Ahrens echoed. “If you’re providing an interesting mix of merchandise and you’re doing it at a great price and you’re giving people customer service and they think of you as friends, you’re going to be all right.”