Paper Moon Flowers
Valentine’s Day is always one of the busiest times of year for Paper Moon Flowers in Harrisburg—but this one posed an additional challenge.
Roses—the staple of the holiday—were the most expensive they’ve been.
And with Easter on the horizon, prices of lilies, daffodils and tulips are similarly high.
“Flower prices are going up through the roof because 90% of the world’s flowers go through Holland,” Paper Moon Flowers owner Shawn Durborow-Bowersox said. “The prices are just insane, doubled or tripled.”
And it’s not just the flowers Everything down to the glass jars that candles are made in, tissue paper and vases are costlier. Even the tape he uses has more than tripled in price.
While President Donald Trump just officially announced this week that he would introduce 10% tariffs on all imported goods, plus additional tariffs for many countries, the writing has been on the wall for some time now. Due to the federal discourse on the issue for the last several months, Paper Moon has already seen prices hiked by an industry preparing for what seemed inevitable.
“They weren’t even in effect yet, and prices started going up,” Durborow-Bowersox said. “It scared everyone, and people just started raising their prices because they can.”
Now that the tariffs are official, Durborow-Bowersox is worried that prices will only continue to climb. And he’s concerned about what that will mean for the business, for his product and for customers.
The anxiety and uncertainty are common feelings right now among small business owners in the Harrisburg area. The reality is that most everyone will be touched by the tariffs in some way. How things will play out long term—no one knows yet.
There may be no other industry that comes to mind as quickly as coffee when it comes to imported goods.
Little Amps Coffee Roasters prides itself on delivering high-quality blends, sourced from around the world, to Harrisburg.
According to Little Amps CEO Peter Leonard, the tariffs come at a time when the coffee world has already been reeling from steep prices due to coffee shortages in typically high-producing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam.
“There’s already a supply issue, and there’s still a demand,” Leonard said. “We were already prepared for much higher costs. Now adding tariffs, it’s going to get crazy.”
However, like at Paper Moon, Little Amps refuses to sacrifice on quality. So, they will just have to pay for it.
In the flower business, pre-ordering, which happens several months in advance, can be a “blindfolded gamble,” when you don’t always know what prices will be when it comes time to pay, Durborow-Bowersox explained.
So Paper Moon is making some small adjustments to help manage.
Instead of buckets of flowers for customers to peruse when purchasing a bouquet, he’s started offering more pre-made, grab-and-go bouquets because they’re more affordable to purchase.
At Little Black Dress boutique in Camp Hill, there may also be some changes in the future. About 90% of the clothing and accessories that they sell come from overseas. Owner Lisa DeCavalcante is weighing possibilities like scaling back her product offerings, knowing that costs are bound to rise.
Lisa DeCavalcante
However, possibly the biggest change that customers will notice will be increased prices on their flowers, coffee beans and sweaters. As much as local business owners don’t want to burden shoppers with higher price tags, they have to stay afloat.
“That’s my last last last resort,” DeCavalcante said. “I will cut other things. I’ve already reduced my payroll. I’ll reduce the extraneous things that aren’t clothing before I’ll raise prices.”
A hot cup of coffee at one of Little Amps’ city shops likely won’t cost too much more, but Leonard fully expects that their bags of beans, like their signature “Friend Blend,” and wholesale products will cost more.
“It’s super stressful,” he said. “It’s a lot of watching costs very closely. If you’re noticing price increases this year at your local spots, assume that they have to do it.”
Leonard said that Little Amps prices will likely begin to rise late spring or early summer.
“Prices will be going up this year, and there’s not a whole lot we can do,” he said. “Hopefully our customers can roll with it, and I’m assuming they’ll have to because every type of coffee will be up [in price].”
At Little Black Dress, DeCavalcante said that she probably wouldn’t have to begin markups until the fall or winter, as most of her products for the next several months have already made their way to the U.S. But raising prices isn’t something she wants to do when she’s trying to offer her community affordable prices.
DeCavalcante is mostly just uncertain and left wondering what will happen long-term and what it will mean for her business.
“It hits small businesses probably the most because we don’t have a huge corporation behind us,” she said. “For the most part, I’m just me, trying to support myself, trying to keep a couple of people employed, trying to keep food on the table and the lights on.”
Durborow-Bowersox feels the same way about increasing costs for his custom arrangements, gifts and décor. He’s already had to do it, but, at the end of the day, most of the burden then falls back onto the business.
“I’m really really trying to raise them not too much,” he said. “I’m taking a bigger cut on my end with profit. I don’t want to lose my customers.”
For Harrisburg-based businesses, many are already struggling with less foot traffic and tougher economic conditions.
Durborow-Bowersox said that part of the reason he chose to open his storefront where he did was because of the proximity to the state Capitol complex. But since the pandemic, few state workers have been in the office regularly; most work remotely still. He also has seen less traffic coming from the Broad Street Market, which has struggled since a devastating fire in 2023.
High parking prices in the city contribute to many businesses’ frustrations, as well.
But for Durborow-Bowersox and many others, they love their community and say they’ll continue to push through.
“I’ll continue to adapt; you have to adapt,” he said. “You have to just keep plugging along. I’m not driven by money. I’m not driven by a dollar; I’m not. I’m driven by happiness and making someone else happy. At the same time, I want to be successful. I don’t want to think about the what ifs.”
Paper Moon Flowers is located at 916 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit their Facebook page.
Little Amps is located at 133 State St. and 1836 Green St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit their website.
Little Black Dress is located at 1801 Market St., Camp Hill. For more information, visit their Facebook page.
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