Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton are feeling even more thankful right now for the large, dry basement at The Learning Tree — the independent toy store they own in Prairie Village — amid worries over tariffs on Chinese imports and how they’ll impact prices from toy manufacturers.
The best they can do to prepare: stockpile merchandise earlier than usual for the holiday season and commit to larger orders, Goodwin and Tipton shared.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, speaks with Brett Goodwin at The Learning Tree in Prairie Village; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
On Wednesday, the toy store owners gave U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, a tour of The Learning Tree and its fully stocked basement at Corinth Square while discussing how tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump are already impacting their small business.
“We focused on buying to secure product at pre-tariff prices,” Tipton explained to Davids. “Now that tariffs are in place, prices have started to go up here and there. Most of the vendors have stuff in their warehouses, and so it has been really a mad dash to order what we can that’s already on shore. They’re starting to run out of that.”
“So the big difference for us for running the business is we stocked up our inventory months in advance of the holiday season,” he added.
Davids’ visit came in response to a letter Goodwin sent to his representatives, echoing the American Specialty Toy Retailer Association’s (ASTRA) concerns regarding the tariffs and the impact they’d have on small businesses and prices paid by consumers, thus advocating for an exemption for toys from the tariffs.
The Learning Tree, 4004 W 83rd St, Prairie Village; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
Alan Tipton, The Learning Tree, holds a copy of “How The Grinch Lost Christmas” during a visit from U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas. Author Alastair Heim will be at the store’s Storypalooza event on June 10; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
“Small businesses like ours are the backbone of the economy and punitive tariffs will be very destructive to our ability to maintain our businesses,” he stated in the letter. “If our members’ community toy stores close, not only will it harm the local economy in every state in the U.S., but it will also lead consumers to, instead, turn to online sites to purchase toys that often do not meet established toy safety guidelines.”
The instability of the trade policies is paralyzing many small business owners, Davids acknowledged. In early April, Trump imposed tariffs of at least 10 percent on nearly all imported goods, with even steeper rates for some countries, including China. After backlash, he temporarily cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent.
Shortly after Davids’ visit, a federal court struck down many of Trump’s tariffs, but on Thursday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal District stayed the order while the legal proceedings play out.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton, owners of The Learning Tree, discuss the impact of tariffs on their Prairie Village store; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
“I know that there are a lot of small businesses who are unable or unwilling to make future decisions because of the level of uncertainty,” she said. “This on and off again, tumultuous, reckless approach is not going to get us to the point where people are making long-term decisions.”
The team at The Learning Tree isn’t just responding to the tariffs, Tipton echoed, but also the uncertainty of what they might be tomorrow.
“If they were just tariffs that we knew would exist for a period of time or until some objective was met, that would be easy,” he explained, “but basically we don’t know anything. So it’s buy, buy, buy while we can.”
Customers shop at The Learning Tree, 4004 W 83rd St, Prairie Village; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
At The Learning Tree, which originally opened in 1996, Goodwin and Tipton — who bought the store in 2023 — work with about 200 vendors, many of whom are located in China. They said they’ve seen different responses to the tariffs from the different vendors. Some have increased prices and others have added a tariff surcharge.
Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton, new owners of The Learning Tree in Prairie Village; photo by Joyce Smith
“They’re all communicating about it and being very open,” Tipton added.
But so far, they continued, they haven’t had to pass the price increases on to their customers.
“We’re doing everything we can not to,” Goodwin noted. “But I don’t want to say that we never will. We will do everything we can, but we’re a competitive business. We have employees. We’re a local store.”
Right now, business is good, Tipton continued. Customers are still spending and they haven’t seen much of a change in those habits.
“We have had one customer come in and say, ‘I’m buying for Christmas early,’” Goodwin added.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton, owners of The Learning Tree, discuss the impact of tariffs on their Prairie Village store; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
Davids — who has not been shy about how Trump’s “reckless” tariffs will hurt Kansans, including small business owners — said she spends a lot of time talking about infrastructure and modernizing the grid, but the needs of the children in the community — including their learning experiences — are also a top priority.
“We talk about toys like they’re not that important,” she explained. “But for the development of kids, toys are a huge aspect of how we learn and grow and taking care of your stuffy is like learning that it matters what I do when I interact with something I care about. I remember when I lost my Care Bear, and my mom went back to look for it.”
“Toys are a learning experience,” she added. “There’s a pretend and play area upstairs. That’s where kids start to learn who they are in the world and how they interact with each other.”
Sharice Davids signs a copy of her children’s book, “Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman,” at The Learning Tree; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Trump recently dismissed the effects of his tariffs on toys by saying kids might just have “two dolls instead of 30,” due to higher costs.
Davids took issue with that statement, she noted, because it’s not the kids that already have 30 dolls who are going to be affected; It’s the children who have two now and might not get any more because of the increased cost.
“People are already stretched so thin,” she continued. “Sure, yes, there are some people who have every single one of these Jelly Cats. They’re into it. But there’s also a kid out there who that’s the one thing that they’re hoping to get for their birthday or for Christmas or whatever. And depending on what happens and the uncertainty of all the tariffs, they might not get that. It doesn’t mean that their whole life is ruined, but for the kid, it probably will feel like that.”
As far as tariffs go, Davids shared, Congress over time has delegated the authority to the executive branch, but she is starting to see movement around taking a hard look at that precedent, including a couple of resolutions she has signed that involve the relationship between the United States and Canada and Mexico.
“I think that tariffs is probably an area where you’ll see bipartisanship — or maybe — it’s hard to tell,” she continued. “You can’t figure out where someone’s going to be just based on their party. But I do think there are a lot of us who, regardless of party, just want to see our small businesses succeed.”
