After nearly a year of new and changing tariffs, and with the economy showing mixed signals, how are local retailers feeling about the 2025 holiday shopping season?
One big indicator is S&P Global’s annual report for 2025, which is predicting 4% growth this year in overall retail, but notes that much of the growth is from higher prices, and that “weaker consumer confidence” will factor into final sales numbers.
Another sign is a report released in mid-November by the U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee-Minority, which estimates that Nevada families have spent an average of $941 more on goods between February and September due to inflation—the eighth-highest jump among states.
Of course, no one knows better than retailers themselves. Four local business owners spoke with the RN&R about what’s changed for them this year, what hasn’t, and what you can expect during your holiday shopping.
Shopping local doesn’t necessarily cost more
Toys N More at the Shayden Summit mall offers a wide variety of toys and gift items, and owner John Forgie said he’s staying positive but realistic about the holiday season.
“I’m trepidly hopeful, I guess is a good way to say it. I’m concerned with how strong it’s going to be,” said Forgie, who owns the store with his wife, Stefanie.
Toys N More opened in 2020 at the Firecreek Crossing shopping center on Kietzke Lane. They moved to south Reno in March of this year.
“People were coming out of COVID with money from the government, and they would buy stuff that they never would buy otherwise,” Forgie said. “Then, our second year was even better, but ever since then, it’s been on a downturn, just like the general economy. Wealthy people still have lots of money, you know, so that hasn’t really changed dramatically. But it’s the working person who is struggling. Gas has gone up; food’s gone up, and so on.”
Forgie said his store hasn’t been directly affected by tariffs, but he’s seen his vendors and competitors charge more overall for their products. “I think everything’s gone up as a general rule of thumb,” he said.
What Forgie emphasized more was the battle to just get people to shop locally. He used the examples of toy companies like Lego and Bruder, which are strict with minimum advertised price policies.
“So what people need to understand is that whether you buy a Lego from a small retailer like myself, or a large store, they’re exactly the same price,” he said. “The perception is that, ‘OK, it’s a boutique shop; they have nicer stuff, and it must be more expensive.’ But, in reality, it isn’t.”
Beef prices are up, but not as much as you think
Butcher Boy Meat Market, which has been at its Plumb Lane location for 10 years, hasn’t seen a slowdown leading up to the holidays, but owner Clint Jolly said he is expecting some differences in what customers choose this year.
“We have different levels of grade,” Jolly said. “So what we are seeing is people who might have bought a prime rib last Christmas will go to (USDA) choice, because beef is up a little bit, not as much as the news generally thinks it is.
“Prime is always going to be a pretty high price, and it’s higher than normal for this time of year, so that’s what I’m expecting: People might still get a nice piece of meat, just not the nicest, you know?”
Jolly said beef prices are up 17% over last year. (The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, released in October, put it at 14.7%.) He said he’s heard some customers claim that it is up more like 50%, or even 100%.
Jolly said one interesting aspect of the rise in meat prices is that “because of the way we purchase from the source, we aren’t as affected, necessarily, as grocery stores are. I’m not saying we aren’t affected at all, but what’s happened is grocery stores are now getting closer to the price (for average-quality meats) that we’ve charged for better meats for a long time.”
Despite the focus on prices for meat, Jolly said he’s still optimistic that Butcher Boy will close out 2025 well.
“I love the holidays,” he said. “We’ve been serving meat to families for 90 years, so the holidays are not a concern.”
Vendors are meeting an indie bookstore halfway
Radical Cat, which opened on Wells Avenue in 2022, is owned by Rosie Zuckerman, Ilya Arbatman and Melissa Hafey. It’s been in its current, considerably larger spot on South Virginia Street for just more than a year.
It is chiefly a book and record store, but Zuckerman said items that do well for the holiday season go beyond that: puzzles, cards, art prints and journals.
“These are a lower commitment than books, and more like stocking stuffers,” she said. “But we do sell a good amount of books, too. It’s definitely our busiest time of the year.”
Zuckerman said she hasn’t seen much effect from rising prices or tariffs, mainly because she and her partners try to buy locally and independent as much as possible.
“There are some artists we buy from who are Canadian, but they’ve actually been doing a lot to counteract tariffs, like offering discounts,” she said. “Some artists I buy from are still offering us better shipping rates, so that’s the way they are trying to offset (tariff effects).
“Yeah, I think we’re all feeling good. It’s fun and exciting for us when there’s a lot of people buzzing around the shop.”
Even if Radical Cat isn’t feeling the effects of high pricing as much as some other stores, Zuckerman acknowledged that less spending is going on in the community.
“Certainly in my personal life, I’m very aware of a lot of people who have either lost jobs or people who are struggling financially,” she said. “But people still do like to come here and shop. I think they feel good about supporting us, and we really appreciate it.”
Zuckerman added, “We don’t spend a ton on marketing, because we do most everything ourselves, which has its ups and downs. I think that we have to just hustle to keep the business going during this time, but doing that ends up supporting us through the year.”
Radical Cat will participate in the Holland Project’s Hi-Dez Holiday Market on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 and 7, at 299 E. Plumb Lane, Suite 115 (next to Sprouts). They are also working with other businesses in Midtown and the Wells Avenue district, such as Bad Apple Vntg, Rising for People Coffee and The Glass Die, on a special punch card during the post-Thanksgiving period, where customers who fill out the cards can enter a raffle for a gift basket from all the participating retailers.
“We’ve done this, I think, every year since we started, and it’s been fun,” Zuckerman said.
Customers are tolerating $3 increases on bottles of wine
Whispering Vine Wine Co. has two locations: one on West Fourth Street that’s been open for 11 years, and another in the South Creek Shopping Center in South Reno that’s been open for 16 years.
Brian Lalor, the company’s wine director, said wines from Napa and Oregon traditionally do well for the holidays, and that there also more sales for imports from Spain, Italy and France due to more Californians with “more of a diverse palate” discovering the stores.
Lalor said that business in general has been “a little bit down this year, but we are finding ways to keep it busy. We’ve been altering our buying, and we’ve always bought in bulk in order to offer customers the best prices.”
As for price increases due to tariffs or other import taxation, Lalor characterized those as about $3 more per bottle of wine.
“It hasn’t affected us to a point where it’s slowing those categories down that are imported,” he said. “They still do pretty well for us.”
He did say sales of certain wines have declined due to pricing, though.
“I have seen a decline particularly in wines that are in the $70 to $100 range,” Lalor said. “Some from Napa in that range have been declining for us, but I think that has to do with the people who usually buy those are people who collect wines. So, my guess is that they’re probably just drinking what they have, which, really, they should be doing.”