Hi everyone,
We need to share something we never thought we'd have to say: there won't be garlands this year.
Every January we start planning for the holiday season. By February or March, we place our orders so our handmade garlands have enough time to be built, shipped, and delivered before October. It's a long runway, but one that's worked beautifully for us—every year we've sold out, and every year we've grown, nearly doubling or tripling in size.
This year was supposed to be even bigger. We had new partners lined up to help us deliver across the country and even abroad. Our goal was to scale up, create jobs here in the U.S., and keep growing with you.
Then came the tariffs. At first, they bounced between 10% and 30%—hard, but maybe survivable. But when the 130% tariff hit, it was game over. To put that in perspective: a $50,000 shipment of garlands would come with a $65,000 tariff bill. That would force us to raise the price of our 9' cedar garland from $118 to over $275. Same garland, double the price. Add on rising costs for shipping and supplies, and it just didn't add up.
Tariff prices have continued to fluctuate, but as a small business, we don't have the cushion to absorb those costs - especially with the unpredictability. And what stings is—it wasn't because of a bad product, poor planning, or weak demand. It was out of our hands.
We know this is disappointing. It is for us too. But this isn't the end of our story. We've spent more than five years looking for U.S.-based producers (and we'll keep looking!) so that one day we can make our garlands right here at home. Until then, we're using this time to make our product even better. We're hopeful that things will stabilize soon and anticipate this being a small pause in the much larger story of Finerly.
Finally, we want to thank you. Your support and encouragement have made everything we've done so far possible. We'll keep you updated as we figure out what's next—and hopefully, we'll be back in your homes next holiday season. Could you stick with us?
With gratitude,
Devon