"When we first opened, we had to establish ourselves, get to know everybody, be good stewards of the neighborhood, and gain the trust of our customers. Then COVID happened. We were shut down, and when we finally reopened fully a year and a half later, it felt like starting over again. Now, it feels like I'm starting over yet again. Tariffs have had an effect on the industry."
"There was some wiggle room, though: Many wines of at least 14% alcohol by volume were not tariffed. At that time, a number of the distributors we work with - almost exclusively small businesses, and the winemakers they work with are oftentimes solo winemakers - and importers said, OK, well, we're just going to kind of split this cost. The producer's going to take a hit, the distributor's going to take a hit, and then we're going to have to raise prices a little bit."
"Because I have little kids, I want to be able to work on the business and not be behind the bar as much. That's changing again, which is unfortunate for me and for my family. It's fine. It's what I need to do. It's my business. Running a business feels harder than it's been in the past - in a different way."
Zach Negin owns a neighborhood wine bar in Los Angeles that opened nine years ago when few wine bars existed. He built customer trust by serving the community and curating wines from many regions. The COVID shutdown closed the bar and reopening fully a year and a half later felt like starting over. New and rapid tariffs have increased import costs, reduced access to diverse, location-dependent wines, and limited product variety. Small distributors, solo winemakers, and importers previously absorbed some cost increases, but recent tariff spikes have intensified financial pressure. Staffing demands have required the owner to spend more time behind the bar, affecting family time.
Read at Business Insider
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