GREEN BAY (NBC26) — This week, President Donald Trump extended the Chinese tariff deadline by a few months. But, if those tariffs or any others do go into effect they won't trickle down to every product.
Take a look inside some of downtown Green Bay's secondhand shops in the video below:
Newly manufactured clothes, shoes and other items shipped from overseas may be hit with growing tariffs. But, that's not true for used items.
Al Valentin opened Mañana Vintage with his business partner just over a year ago.
"I've always loved old stuff," Valentin said. "I really love the story of items."
Located on Broadway downtown, he said Mañana Vintage sources most of their vintage clothes, accessories and furniture locally, or at least from within the U.S.
"It's been surprisingly good for us," Valentin said. "We sometimes will flaunt the idea that we're tariff free."
Although some retailers impacted by tariffs may still have cheaper prices than a vintage or used shop, Valentin says there's often more to why people choose local, second hand stuff over brand-new.
"Sustainability, avoiding fast fashion," Valentin said.
Also in the Broadway district, Junk in the Trunk Antique Mall is only a couple months old, with everything from pricey, rare memorabilia to secondhand clothes, toys and dishware. All of it curated by about 75 different vendors.
"With something that's resold, the value actually comes from the person selling it," Jayson Wertel, Junk in the Trunk Antique Mall owner, said. Which means, tariffs don't play a part in the price tags.
Wertel says in its first weeks open, the mall averages 100 customers a day.
"Tariffs have a way of scaring you on a new purchase," he said. "It's just a matter of what your taste is and what you can find here to kind of eliminate the purchase of an item that might have a tariff on it somewhere else."
With space for sellers in high demand, Junk in the Trunk plans to open 30 new booth spaces after finishing up some construction in the coming weeks.
