The creative mind behind intricately carved shoes is Lucky Lou Shoes owner LouLou Von Hochtritt.

“A good 20 years of my life, and I wouldn’t do anything else,” Von Hochtritt said. “There’s nothing else I want to do.”

She knew tariffs affected many things, but she wasn’t expecting the tab she got on this year’s order.

“My duties will come in at like $2,000 to $3,000 at the most, depending on my order,” Von Hochtritt said. “Last week, I got an order, a small order, I got a $16,000 duty hit. I just started crying because I knew it was going to have such an impact on everything I’ve done in my life.”

Von Hochtritt said she had no choice but to raise her prices.

“Hopefully, the customers will pay and understand and pay, but I’m finding the customers are sort of pushing back a little bit,”

See Full Page