Suburban Chicago bridal shop owner warns wedding dress prices could go up hundreds due to tariffs

EAST DUNDEE, Ill. (WLS) -- Bridal shops are warning about price increases because of tariffs.

They say the price of a dress could go up hundreds of dollars.

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One local bridal shop owner said he's trying to get creative.

The impacts of President Donald Trump's tariffs on China are already being felt by so many small businesses.

A bridal shop in East Dundee is feeling it. They're now trying to compensate by selling some dresses for half the price, encouraging customers to get in and get some merchandise.

David Gaffke owns Complete Bridal, and he says 90 percent of his dresses come from China.

"We have to call 211 clients and ask them for more money for tariffs: That's $65,000. We're a small store. We can't absorb that. So, what happens? It goes back to the customer," Gaffke said.

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The frustration for him comes with the fact that his designers are even increasing prices on dresses that have already been made and are already in the U.S.

"Wedding gowns are going up $320 to $569. That's product that's already made. Nothing is being added to the dress; it's just tariffs," Gaffke said.

Gaffke said he agrees with the overall plan for tariffs, but believes it should be imposed in a slower and more methodical way to help small businesses.

Meanwhile, there's no shortage of business for him right now, as his books are actually filled with appointments because people are trying to find their perfect dresses before prices rise even more.

"Our industry is going crazy right now, and all I can do is tell brides, 'get to the store right away,'" Gaffke said.

Gaffke has also looked into building a factory in the U.S. to manufacture dresses locally, but he struggled to drum up the funding for that.

He says it would also take too much time to make a difference now.

"Takes about three to four years to produce a high-quality factory that can make quality wedding gowns, we don't have three to four years," Gaffke said.

So, Gaffke is encouraging Trump to give some relief to this specific industry because they don't have many other remedies to manufacture these products.

In the meantime, he's packed with customers and hoping to help them out and get some help in return.