The Boys
Welcome to "The Boys" podcast, where business partners Jeremy, Stuart, and Dwayne come together after two decades of collaboration to share their expertise and passion for all things decor, home design, business, and floral design. Join this dynamic trio as they delve into the world of aesthetics, offering valuable insights, practical tips to elevate your living spaces, and a few laughs along the way.
But it's not just about design; it's about spreading joy and making the process enjoyable for everyone. The podcast is infused with the camaraderie and humor that comes from years of friendship and collaboration. Expect lively discussions, entertaining anecdotes, and a genuine passion for creating spaces that bring happiness and comfort.
The Boys
S2:E8: T is for Tariffs
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Oh, where did that come from?
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318She don't even know that.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324A big ha, like a big hair just went flying outta this microphone.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I walked past his office this morning, Jeremy, and he was in there coughing his hair. I'm like, what the hell? I just looked at him. I was like, bless him. He's so cute.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I saw myself in the reflection of my computer screen.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Is that what it was?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Uh.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Podcasters. Extraordinaire. has been on it today. He's had TV crews here. He's had been talking to the the media, and so when we started, we rep punted about what we're gonna talk about in the podcast. And so today, because Jeremy's feeling the church,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Oh
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318gonna talk about all things running your. Business and what it's been like in dealing with the tariff and all the trials and tribulations that we have been going through now and in the past. And lord knows what in the future, what's gonna be. Uh, but, uh, we wanna kind of tell you, um, done preemptive strikes and kind of what we're doing and so kind of just let you know. Is that a good setup?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324that the T word we were gonna talk about?'cause I thought we were talking about tube tops.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318No. No.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Oh, the T word. I thought, I thought it was testosterone.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Nope. Nope, Nope.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324for today, for me it has been fucking tariffs. That has been,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Um,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324has been all I have talked about today. And just so y'all know my listen,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324sorry.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324that I could murder someone. Do something. I think I could create a cult and murder someone. And if I was on the news and I didn't tell my mother about it so she could watch it, she'd be disappointed if I'm gonna be on there, she wants to see it. So I knew when I left I needed to call Mama and be
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324You are that?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324I have been
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324all the new shows today. I have spoken with them. I, my face is gonna be plastered all over this tv. I don't know when they're airing. I think I know, but here's it was like, so I'm just calling to let you know,'cause you always want to know. And you know what, the first thing she said was.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318No. No.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Did you curse?
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Well, she knows you. She knows you.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and I said, no, mama. edited myself. You don't have to
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324censoring me or bleeping me on the news. And I thought that's what she was worried about.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Oh,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318bless
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324that's okay.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318that
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It's legit.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318just a little. It's legit. She tore you down just a little. Uh, I don't know that. I know it stings from your mom, from somebody that cares, but she wasn't wrong.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Oh no. And then, no. No, because, xxx xxx xxxx xxxxx, xxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxx. but that's how I feel about it.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Okay. What did, what did you tell the media today? What did you want the people to know?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Well, what he wanted the people to know and what he told the media are two different stories.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318this is, this is explicit rating,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It is.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318pretty much say what you want in this one. You be okay. I don't know if you need to, but you can if you need to.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324No, you know, it's, it's so funny. Like anybody who's ever been interviewed anything, um, you know that usually going into it, you have, a goal in mind. This is what you wanna talk about. And then the person who interviews, they're gonna send in whatever direction they want to. Um. of'em were, were very interested. Well, what we have been able to do, I think to try to prepare for this insanity of, of what's going on right now is totally different than what a lot of other retailers that we know of, especially in our area, plus around the country, are able to do. Because we have, a lot of, of space and, and we can hold products. So we
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318We got a big warehouse.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah, and
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324were able to absorb. A product that we ordered in January that was technically ordered for fall and Christmas, and they already had quite a bit of it allocated for us. And we were able to take a good chunk, not all of it, but a good chunk, uh, of stuff and take it and so store it. And so we were able to get it the tariffs had to be applied. Now, by the way, when we were talking about, when we're talking about tariffs, it is. Lord, y'all listeners, y'all just gonna have to bear with me today because it, it's, I'm tired. I, I, I
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324So, yes,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324think I'm gonna curse a lot today, and I don't mean to, I know that it's
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324it, well, so, and I think too, what you're getting ready to go into is that tariffs aren't new.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324No,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It's not, it's not a new concept.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324No.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324always been there, but it's been a, a amenable percentage amount.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Right. It's been manageable in
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Manageable. Yes. So this isn't like a new concept that's just destroying the world. What's destroying the world is other things that we don't talk about on this podcast, but tariffs have gone through the roof.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324It's, it
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324what I tried to explain to, the people that stopped by was, you know, we have been through this before. We have dealt with tariffs. Tariffs are an economic move that politicians can use to do a lot of things. One of them is to protect their own domestic interests and then also to punish others. Um. And the difference between this time and the only other time that I really remember having to deal with some of these crazy, um, tariffs, that before when we were given an amount, that amount basically kind of stayed what it was. It might have just a little bit, but in between the time of the news people saying, Hey, we wanna come chat with you, The tariffs went from, well, it was 34%, and then it was, 50 more percent. Then it got to 104% then it went to 125, and I think I saw something earlier today where now it's 130 something. It nobody knows what's going on. And so what I try to tell the news people is that what we've heard discussing or what I've heard, because I've talked to. Our friend, Shaer, who is it with? One of our vendors. I've talked with, uh, one of our reps, Susanna, who's said another one. Everybody's running around really with a, like a chicken with their head cut off because nobody knows what's going on and nobody knows what the numbers are, so nobody can make a plan of what to do.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324why I
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Including us.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324including
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Including us.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324on the ball
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It's.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324worst case scenario
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324case scenario, we took all this stuff, we now have it. We are prepared. For the holiday season when it gets here for, for a lot of the stuff. Right.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324won't be anything applied to anything else. So we'll be okay. Like that's best case scenario. Like,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Okay. What do you mean it won't be applied to? do you mean by that? Jeremy? What are you telling the people?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Well, well, it's just that nobody, because it keeps changing and we don't know when.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318mean that we don't pay for all this and we don't, we don't pass it along. We, we that, that we eat all this or the customer has to pay for the tariff? Is that what you're saying?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yes, it
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Oh goodness. My. Because I've had people in my world say, well, it's not gonna cost anything. The manufacturers will just pay for that. What world are you in? What world are you in? So literally, this just, just just happened. My my sweet mama. Needed to buy a new car because of convenience issues because my dad couldn't get in and outta of the other car that he had'cause of a health issue. Long story is we didn't buy the car because of the tariff thing instantly last Friday in the rain is because we were backed into a corner because of other issues. However, when we were buying the car. The finance person, the salesperson was wonderful, but the finance person was, mm, injected, not wonderful fool that she was with talking around the circle that she was trying to sell. What was it? Uh, Stewart, uh,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Extended warranty. She went to extended warranty.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318thought, what did she. Do. I was like, she was this bog dog and pony show and I couldn't figure it out, but she's like, well you can, you can do this and this guarantee if you do this because, you know, parks have already, um, they've already told us that park are going up 27%. this is before all this other stuff is released. Right. I'm like, Lord have mercy. don't want your car to tear up'cause you're gonna be able to fix it as it is. So, uh, so what she was telling me is. The manufacturer now, the dealer, they're not eating the costs, they're passing it on to the consumer.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318So what we've done right with getting in, I heard the number 17 pallets. I don't know if that's a correct answer or not, but
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324more
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I see a whole, huh?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324with more
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324We, we got in 12. We had five the day before. We've got approximately, I think 11 more coming that I know of.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318serious?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Don't
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324yeah,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318getting, making me get my crap outta there.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I know.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Uh,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It's like, move your corner out. Get it out.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I guess what I pivot to though is we, we, we. We can't fix what's happening, but what we can
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324No.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318be proactive. So now hearing that we have 22 massive pallets of product here, that we don't have to raise one price. Right. And that's, that's
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324on what we have
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318on what
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324in the store. Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Well, and but that's a
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Which is why we released it. Right. Which is a lot of, a lot of stuff. And there were a few, you know, and that's predominantly Christmas stuff that we. Have back there and are basically hoarding like toilet paper from Covid. But I mean, that's what we just did. But
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I didn't think
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324there are also a few, uh, home decor companies who offer the same. Thing that if it was in their stock right now, if we got it outta their warehouse. So we have ordered those things as well to have not just flowers, we'll have the pretty stuff as well. So we are being proactive in getting it in here, keeping it at a lower price because you know, who knows by, I don't know, next week, tomorrow, well now we know there's a nine now. Well now we know there's a 90 day stay on a lot of it, but
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318right
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324after.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324for, except for
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Ex, except for China, but after 90 days, who knows?
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318that? Where's our stuff come from, Jeremy?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Well, we do, things come from a lot of different places, but you know, we all know that most of the things that we have for seasonal home decor comes in from China.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Would you say 93% comes from China in our shop?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324when I talked, when the, the news guy asked me this morning, I said, I
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yep.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_16132490%. I don't think it's
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324it's
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324somewhere
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318There's some South Korea and
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mexico, there's some things India,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324From Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Canada, Mexico.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318is China. And my frustration on this one is I can't say that I don't disagree that things have become unbalanced and we don't need to edit and we don't need to change things. And tariffs can be, if used correctly, a good tool, right? it has to be methodical. Right.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Sure.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318the other dance of it is you can't fix things that our government's put into place for the last 70 years. Right or wrong, you can't fix it overnight. Right. There has to be a plan, and that's my frustration on this. I don't disagree politically that I don't want my drugs, medicine made in China. I just don't. Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Or
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I don't want it made in India. Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318that back. Okay, but let's, let's concentrate piece by piece. Methodical. And I don't know that I'm too worried about having a silk flower made in China that I need to make it get in Indiana tomorrow.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324What? I told,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324told one of the news guys this morning, I was like, you know, one of the guys in the online department had dinner with friends the other night, and they were
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324he has friends.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324He does. He
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I'm
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324He had dinner with, some supporters of the tariffs that were, were really, really excited about it,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and he was trying to explain to them, you know, the situation and they said, well just buy from American made companies.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yes, all those American floral twisters.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and so he tried to explain to them that it, it doesn't, that doesn't exist here. I. And so what I was trying to explain to the news people, I was like, it's not that we don't want to buy from American companies. The what first people need to understand is we are buying from American companies who work with factories overseas or own the factories overseas, right?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Correct
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324a lot of them
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318That's
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324that, that's what I wanted to bring up to. Right, right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324You know, they have this product, you know, they, they did used to make things here, but, you know, 25, 30, I don't know how many years ago that this, a lot of this moved over, uh, overseas in various places. But in that amount of time, infrastructure was built. Technology has changed. Talents. I mean, it's an art. A lot of these flowers are hand,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324cut, hand put together, hand colored, hand painted, all those kind of things. We don't have a workforce that can just start adding this to their little factory line to make tomorrow. This is, this is not how this works.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324We don't have the factory to build them in.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324have the fact. So I mean,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324We need that as well.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324years that takes to, to build all that stuff and then
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324put in. And um, he goes, oh yeah. And I was like, well now there is one factory, uh, and it's not really a factory, but it's a, uh, they make flowers, they make'em by hand, but now they listen, they make'em in New York City. I remembered seeing this, on some kind of documentary along, maybe five, 10 years ago. And I looked, and they are still around, they. Hand make flowers to go for more fashion purposes. So they make silk flowers for hats and clothing and things like that. So a complete different what we do, right? When I look to see what they had, let's say our ous, our little single stem ulu, so the head of it's like two and a half inches wide. Okay. If that, maybe three inches wide, pretty hand done stem, foliage, leaf. Okay, we have it. I can't remember if it's 4, 9 5 or 5, 9, 5, I can't remember the price point. It's one of those two when you see the same, not the same.'cause again, it's completely different'cause this is fashion. But when you look at a size of a flower head that's from this company that makes it here in the country, it doesn't come with a stem. It doesn't come with any foliage, it doesn't come with any, any of that. It's just purely the head that you can then attach onto a hat or whatever. A flower costs$28 and up. And this
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324was, you know, now I'm, in New York, so there's some additional costs involved with, I'm sure that they have to mark up something. Sure. I'm sure. But the, we're talking about what we carry that is realistic and handmade and a lot of effort to put into it. That can't be just replicated. And it looks like, I mean, if we, once I kind of showed him the example of like, here's this and here's this. There's no way we can, we can't do, we can't do this overnight. Would I love for it to come back? That'd be great, but I don't know who I. is gonna sit in a factory be paid pennies. I mean, people complain about getting paid$16 at, at McDonald's. And listen, I'm not, I'm not complaining about,$15 minimum wage. should be able to be paid a living wage. Right? I
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Sure.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324that's, that's a very important thing, right?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Um. So I'm not saying that somebody should get paid, you know, and I don't know what these people get paid in, in these factories. Um, but for where they live and where they are, they are able to make a living that they're not living in a place with dirt floors. Right. Like they're
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324you know, I don't know what kind of output you'd have to have in this country to make that, but I, I just don't think that manufacturing of a 4, 9 5 flower is gonna come back to this country anytime soon.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I can, I can see car manufacturing. Right? I can imagine
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Sure.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I can s
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324here. Do you know that the BMW factory in North Carolina is BMW's biggest factory?
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yeah. I didn't know that. I'm a car person, so, yeah,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324not, I
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318yeah,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324this morning.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318yeah. Yeah. I am a proponent for medicines being made in the States. Absolutely. Um, anything pharmaceutical, I feel like we should be more protective of if you digest it or put it on your body. In your body, on your body. I'm kind of more wanting to, to stay in the States. I'm, I'm. Really, I have to, you know, even the bandaid, like I, I think a bandaid probably should be
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Well, Lauren.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Right. Well, I'm telling you I want it made in the states. I'm not, and I'm not stuck on just us. I'm not sure though,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Well,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318is something that needs to be made here. It's just, it's just a different price point. And like these beautiful porcelain containers that we order in and brought them, made from China. Are Chinese, it's called Chin for a Reason.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324right
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318a French word, meaning Chinese like
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318yeah. So they're made in China and painted in China and depict seems for a reason. So therefore, why should they be now twice as expensive as what it was a week ago? That's, you know, that's asinine for me. That's just foolishness, foolishness.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Well, another thing that I was speaking of that Chinese, that, that porcelain, one of the things that I told, um, and I don't think that this was in one of the news stories, but I was telling him what, uh, our friend Papa Bear, uh, was telling us. And
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah. Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324is his nickname, but he, uh, he owns a. Antique kind of reproduction company, outta St. Louis. And he carries a lot of staff, shirt dogs. he carries a lot of blue, blue white port, a lot of that kind of that wear, right? So a
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324ri like all those things. And, he was telling us that, you know, a lot of this stuff's hand painted. It's done by an artist overseas, right? Like this. A lot of this stuff's not just applied, it's done by an artist they're having a hard time finding. People
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324The artist right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324to do it. And so a lot of these designs aren't being able to be moved forward because lot of people aren't wanting to move into the factory to work well. I'm like, if you don't want, if people don't wanna do that over there, they Sure. Can you imagine somebody trying to do this over here?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324No.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324No. I mean there, there's
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324no, and what I was trying to say to him is listen, I understand that we have a retail store and we sell things. And we, we make money from that to then pay our bills and then hopefully be able to pay ourselves something, you know, something decent. Right? But at the end of the day, capitalism is basically exploitation of the lowest. Meaning where a lot of things are often made is where it can be made the cheapest always right. So there was a long period of time where that was China.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324seen, speaking to a lot of our vendors, that they're now moving out of China, they're going into other areas. Some new things are getting made in Indians, some things are
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324in, uh,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Indonesia, Malaysia. Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324because the middle class that was built in China has grown. And now those people are wanting to do other things. They're not wanting to work in factories. Right,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318It's, it's acquired wealth and they that they
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324they've
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318longer have to work in the factory just like,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318an American. They no longer. I keep hearing that, that we factories and people wanna work in factories. I don't believe that's true. I really sincerely just, I've seen America, I. And they are fat and lazy and I just don't think they wanna work in the factory. Right? I'm lumping myself into that, right? Uh, maybe this is true, there's an audience, but I don't think we have enough to justify all manufacturing to come back to the states. I just really don't believe that once it's all said, done.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I think the whole point because, you know. We've always, you know, made a business on not talking about politics, but this whole podcast is just about that. But it also affects everybody, not just us. It, it affects every single person in the United States
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318want people to hear this. This is not an R or a D beat up. It
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324no, not at all.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318or it's just not. It's just not because I can say to you, I keep coming back to there are targeted, well thought out, methodical tariffs that are a tool. know that what we are doing. We cannot continue in this country. What for property rights have been stolen, cannot continue. I do know is we do need to make changes, so I am open to those changes. Absolutely. And on some things I was like, okay, let's see what happens here. I am open to it,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318but you cannot do it thought and, and things put in place and you can't change something that's been happening for the last 70 years. two months, you just can't do it,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324right,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318you're gonna have some terrible ramifications. I believe that in my heart,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318RRD,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324a, a.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318was just, that's just a common sense
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Well, and in general life. In general life, a pissing contest gets nowhere.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318You got it.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324That's with, that's with any topic, anywhere, with any person or any group of people, or two people or whatever. You gotta sit down and think, right?
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318You ready?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Sure.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318was driving in and it's like, since we've opened this business,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318you know, we opened it when? 2009 in the banking crisis,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324opened
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_1613182010 banking crisis then.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324We started our bank account in 2009.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324True.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Okay. My god.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324We had a brick and mortar in 10.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm. Very true.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324See, look, I conceded no.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318So kids, if you don't understand, it's about a 15 year anniversary or 16th anniversary. I'm like these two talking about pissing contests. It's wearing me out over this one. Wear me out. So
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324So, yes.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318we opened not in the most ideal of times,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324No, and it was a banking crisis. Yeah,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318It was a
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324it was.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318right?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324It was
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318So we, we, we, we were forced, truthfully forced to open the business during that time of how, how we were, um, how it was managed, uh, for their other employer. I.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324sh.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318With that said, um, we survived it and we thrived, right? And then we, you know, building and building the business, building business and then Covid hits. And I literally remember saying, there's, that's the last 25 years gone, right? But look what happened. Because of Jeremy. Truthfully, we've, and sure enough said this and he putting online and creating the online presence, we took what was potentially a door closing business, closing pandemic, and flourished with it, right, and have never looked back and changed the projection of the store. And now a few years later. It's like, okay, here we go again.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318And that's how we, how do we get around this one this time and we're not gonna give up. Right? And we're being proactive and we're being smart. And, I had said to Jeremy a few weeks ago, those who don't know, we do a live sale every Wednesday night on our app, 7:00 PM.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Eastern.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318And I call it local QVC,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318changed the, that Well, we're showing you how to do stuff in life styling. And so I, I really
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318a more interesting approach. So I do like what we're going with it, but I also said to him, look, I don't wanna be here for the next lifetime on a Wednesday night, seven o'clock at night, selling four things you gotta prove to me we're selling crap. Right? And of course, he's not proven anything to me. But with that said,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324As he rolls his eyes.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318As he rolls his eyes. Right. But what I say is, you know what, I'm probably gonna pull back from that conversation what we've learned is by doing this, live sale, that it gets people in the door. Right? They may not buy that night, which they are, people are buying. Well, by
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Sure.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I hear you.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Uh, but it's become a marketing tool and I didn't understand that. And I don't know if you saw that coming or you believe that was part of it. You did. You did know that. Okay. I'm, I did not, and I just thought it was selling crap. You're like, oh, it's all inclusive. Look, look at him shaking his head. Why is one, it's got people in the door and it's having buzz. So even though I may wanna go home, what I realize is, okay, well, we're gonna work a little bit harder and we're not gonna give up and we're gonna do the live sales and we're gonna do the demonstrations, and we're gonna be in your home. And we're, we're, we're working hard again, right? We've, we've, we've done 2010. We've done covid, we're dealing with whatever.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Right? The next thing. And Healy's tired. Healy's tired.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324At, he's tired.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318not gonna give up. We're just not gonna give up. Right. They're too, too stupid or, uh, too tenacious, whatever it is, but not gonna give up. So we're doing it for the peoples.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324no. You know, this, this echoes one of the things that I told, um, one of the news guys today, I was, he was asking about if I was worried about the future of our business. And I said, well, I. Owning a business for a lot of people. Sounds very glamorous, um, and wonderful. And don't get me wrong, there are a lot of fun aspects to it, but there's a lot of stress. A lot of pressure, and. There's always an easy and very forward understanding that sometimes you can make decisions and it's either gonna make you or break you. And when we originally opened, I remember I told him, I said, we went to market one time. It was during the, the banking and housing crisis. we went to market and there was no one there. And we thought we were there on the wrong dates because where was everybody shopping? And I said at that point, there were a ton of small businesses that. Did not survive, did not get through
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yep. That's when we decided to open.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Right. timing. we move forward. Everything's going okay. Then, uh, we get to Covid and then that happens. And then what happens? We lose lot of other small businesses. It just seems like they keep just disappearing. And I said, you know, this is like the next little step on that. And I was like, you know, we are not gonna give up. We're gonna keep doing and fighting and working and everything that we got,'cause we love, we love this. This is what we're, this is what we do. It brings us joy, it brings customers joy. I mean, this is, this is what. Part of what we're supposed to do here, so this is what we're doing. but I told him, I said, this continues and it's sustained, we are going to lose a lot of other small businesses. I mean, that is
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324the, the fact that I think you're gonna lose some big companies too, because this is just not possible to to handle. So.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Coles is gone, baby. Coles is gone.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324I mean
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Oh.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Um, and again, again, we keep saying like, because we don't know what we're going to, what, what, not what we're gonna do, but what our vendors are gonna do. Because them trying to figure out, okay, are they going to cover part of the, of the tariff and then what's our part of the rest of it, right? And
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324that gonna change the
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Okay. You've been dealing with it. Both of you. Has any one
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Hmm.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318vendor said that they're gonna cover any of the costs?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Early on, and I say early on, four weeks ago, five weeks ago, I. Um, one vendor wasn't gonna cover all of it, but they were gonna cover a majority of it
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Okay.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324for certain accounts
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Mm-hmm.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324the conversation.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324But this was at the time when it was
stuart_1_04-10-2025_16132420%.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324right?
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah, yeah. So, but other than that, no. We've gotten some, we we've got no, and we've gotten like. I won't say warning emails, but we've gotten informative emails,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and informative emails. They're just like, Hey, by the way, your prices are getting ready to change. We don't know what that is yet. You'll know soon.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324right?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318they're
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324uh,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318us right.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324because honestly, like they don't know either. They don't know what they're gonna get hit with.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324literally it has changed from one day. Like
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324when I met, when I spoke with, uh, one of them this morning, the number that was given that was being applied to Shauna was one number. And then by the time the second news crew came over, it was a different, it was a different amount.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Wow. I see. I'm not,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I've been running all day, so, wow.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324So, um, but like I, I spoke with, um, our friend Shalay today
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324called about an item for, um. To see if they just had it, trying to figure out what to do. And she said, well, she goes, she called me back today and she said, I did find we have, we have some. She goes, if you want them, she goes, these were in, these were received in when it was, uh, 8%. So this is gonna have an 8%, uh, tariff applied on it. Um, and if you want these, grab them, but you know, you need to let me know. She's like, after that, she's like, everything else that's coming in on the water, we're not for sure what it's gonna be. Tariff debt because it keeps changing and that's why she even told me, um, oh, was it her or was it another vendor that they have put a pause on shipping out product? They have, they've decided to
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Are you serious?
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and just hold the product because they don't know what to apply. Because it's changed. It's
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Wow. I didn't even know that was a.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324it out. Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Wow. Okay.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324owner of her, uh, company was overseas right now working on product for, I guess I don't think it would be, it's probably spring of
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I was gonna say what it'll be next year, spring. Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and, um, I. People, they work that far ahead. It's crazy. Um, but I think that's what he is working on. And he was gonna try to wait till either, I can't remember if she said it was after this weekend or next weekend, to try to make a decision of what they were gonna do. Try to get numbers figured out.'cause it's just,
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324it panic. That's what I told the people on the news. I was like, anybody I speak to, like they're saying, all the phone calls that they're getting are all retailers like us. That's all they're getting all day long. And of course they're panicking too.'cause they don't know
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I don't think we're panicking. I don't think we're panicking. We're being
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324we're
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318cautious.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324are okay right now.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I think we're cautiously approaching
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324yes. I I also think that we've got a history of like, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna get through this no matter what. Like we're gonna
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318So we're gonna do the live sales we're gonna do promotions, and we're gonna do the podcast, and we're just gonna work harder and say, don't forget about us. Look at us. We're trying.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324right.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324so that's
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yep.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324I wanna make sure that we, you know, small businesses in my opinion are really the, the heartbeat of the country, right? Like, this is really what gives each little community their little interest and their fun and they're flare and all that. So in all of this, I just want to ask all of the wonderful customers who have supported us over the years
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Mm. Mm-hmm.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324um. know that one, we've appreciated it. Um, but two, of whether it's us or it's another small business, don't
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Right. Yeah. Utilize them. Yeah.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324you.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318I know in my heart during Covid that we had people buy stuff and think of reasons to buy stuff from us to support us.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318just know that happened. I was like, she said, well, you know, I. that this flower arrangement was made three years ago, but it could be freshened up. And I was like, it's fine. She said, mm, no, I wanna start over. I know what she was doing. I knew what she was
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318to do this. We're fine. She said, no, I want you to do this. And oh, I need a door basket for my cousin and all those things. But that happened multiple times. And so my heart really will never forget those. People, and there were many, many, many of them who, um, grace to us to make sure that we survived and thrived. And that, that I truly won't forget, um, that that was, that was touching. It really was touching. And, um, so the reason I come back to, it's like I, that's the reason I come back to, um, we're not gonna give up and we're gonna fight hard and we're gonna do the best we can and we're gonna. Um, be proactive and we're gonna get the product in when, and we can keep it at the same process without having tariffs on it. And we're gonna be smart about this, um, because we're, we're just, we're just gonna make this work. We're gonna figure it out
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324and I'll be drinking more.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318and you'll be drinking more.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324A Stewart. Stewart will go from one bourbon every night from when he gets home to three.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I know. I mean, I've had so many hairstyles since we've been open. I don't know what to do next. It goes with the change. I don't know.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318that we get out to say anything, but it's becoming more limited,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324I. Oh,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324God,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324oh,
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324telly.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324well I was gonna do that platinum that you liked, but not no more.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Come on, do it again. And what he's meaning is he died. Was it cut real short.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah, it is a little shorter than what I have now. Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Yeah. And it was, I really do think it was, I think it was your look. I really do you, you, you you rocked it, brother. I'd be, I'd be down with that one.
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324We will see. We'll, we'll put the pho meter out and see and see where it, the spinner lands on my hair dye.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318There you go. There you go.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324today's podcast that we, did not scare anybody, but maybe we might've informed some and if, and, um, and if not that, that we xxx xx x x xxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxx So we can all xxxx xxxxx ep it all together. So God
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Oh my God.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah,
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah, that's what it is.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324Yeah.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318We'll be
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Here we go.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324We
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318Here we go.
jeremy_1_04-10-2025_161324that. All right. Well, as always, thank you all for listening. We will see you again next week. Don't forget to download our HouseFloral app to join us in our live selling every Wednesday, 7:00 PM Eastern, until next week, we will see you then. All right. Bye.
dwayne-guest678_1_04-10-2025_161318bye now
stuart_1_04-10-2025_161324Bye.
