It isn’t unusual for Terrill Hines to drop hundreds of dollars on shoes in an afternoon. Especially when his four children are along.
He spent a May afternoon at Succezz, a Near South Side streetwear sneaker store, on a shopping trip to celebrate his daughter’s 14th birthday.
But the effects of President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs could soon affect Hines’ taste for athletic shoes.
The president has broadly raised tariffs — taxes that are charged by the importing country and typically added to the price of goods — though he later backed off on some of them.
Citing the increases, Adidas, a favorite of many sneakerheads, has announced prices will rise, though it says it’s “impossible” to say by how much.
Adidas and Nike largely rely on Vietnam and China, the two largest sources for U.S. imports of footwear. Together they accounted for 69.9% of imports in 2021, according to the United States International Trade Commission.
Trump has increased the tariff on China to 145%. It was 20% when he took office.
“It ain’t really going to impact us for real, for real,” says Hines’ 20-year-old son Terrill Hines Jr. “They already raise the prices. Really, not much we can do besides not buy the shoe.”
And that’s not an option for him and his father.
But others might not buy as much, industry analysts say. And that has business owners apprehensive about the tariffs’ impact.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America estimates that the United States imports 6.3 pairs of shoes for every person, and that 99 percent of the shoes sold in the United States are imported.
“I think that we will see consumers continue to prioritize and cut back on purchasing where they can,” says Beth Goldstein, a footwear industry analyst with the firm Circana. “For example, parents probably can’t skip buying footwear for their kids, but they can likely hold off on purchases for themselves.”
Catherine Aragon-Munden, 66, spent an afternoon trying on walking shoes to take on her upcoming trip to Italy, and stopped in a DSW store in Lake View. If tariffs increase shoe prices, she won’t be buying, she said.
“Forget it,” she says, slipping on a pair of New Balance sneakers. “See, I’m already at a discount store now.”
Trump’s tariffs haven’t affected people buying athletic shoes in the United States yet, but experts expect there might be some shortages in the coming weeks and price increases to follow.
For sneakerheads, shoes are expensive passion
Hines raised his children to have a passion and joy for lifestyle sneakers, the kind you wear every day, not for sports.
His daughter spent her birthday looking for a pair of Off-White sneakers, an exclusive shoe that retails from $400 to $650.
Footwear prices already were going up before Trump took office. Since 2019, the average price of shoes has increased 30% — largely on par with inflation — and consumers have generally cut down on spending, Goldstein says.
The lifestyle sneaker market makes up the largest class of footwear by far and has seen steady growth in recent years, Goldstein says.
“My customer, he wants to look nice every day,” says Succezz owner Lavelle Sykes. “He’s gonna take care of himself. He’s a lover. It’s more of a passion. It’s like nostalgia for them. It’s something they didn’t have when they were younger. They say, ‘I want it now because I never got it when I was a kid.’ ”
Darius Polk, 29, used to buy sneakers for himself every couple of weeks, adding to a collection that now numbers about 20 pairs. That changed with the birth of his son, now 10. Now, he spends his cash on little Air Jordans.
“The shoes are still gonna get bought,” he says. “If I like it, I’ll buy it.”
Nia Taylor, 24, agrees. She typically spends her money on luxury Bottega Veneta and Isabel Marant shoes, not sneakers, but snagged a pair of Nike Dunks at Succezz for her niece.
“At the end of the day, in 2025, nothing’s gonna stay the same,” she says. “So we can’t expect prices to just stay where they are or go below.”
The threat of tariffs is enough to drive price increases
For imports from some countries, tariffs are up 10% now, with additional increases — including a 46% increase on Vietnamese goods — paused until July 9.
Because most sneaker companies manufacture in those countries, these increased rates will cause higher prices for consumers, says Matt Priest, chief executive officere of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.
“Even the threat of tariffs creates a lot of disruption in the marketplace and a lot of moving around of supply chains that will drive up costs anyway, even if the (additional) tariffs never take effect,” Priest says.
Shoes coming from Vietnam already had a 20% duty, Priest says. So Trump’s threat of a 46% increase could force consumers to spend well over $200 for what’s now a $150 pair of shoes.
The 145% tariff on goods from China creates a “much more precarious situation,” he says.
“For the most part, those orders have been stopped, and that product is not being sourced right now because of just it’s you can’t afford to bring it in,” Priest says.
The 10% additional tariff on most other United States imports could still disrupt the industry.
“Adding $10, $12 extra on a pair of sneakers in this environment, when all goods are being taxed at higher levels is not a recipe for higher sales and access to great product,” he says.
Most of the shoes manufactured in China now are for the more price-competitive shoes that people could buy at a mass retailer like Target. That’s where consumers will likely see shortages first, he says.
Small shoe retailers struggle with inventory decisions
Chicago stores facing higher wholesale prices could struggle with inventory shortages, Priest and store owners say.
While some sneaker enthusiasts may tolerate small price increases, Priest says overall demand is expected to drop as prices rise and consumers become more cautious with spending.
Sykes buys his inventory about six months ahead of time.
“I was trying to figure out how long it would take for it to trickle down to our bottom dollar. I figure it’ll be about a year out,” the 30-year industry vet says. “It’ll affect me on my invoices, everything on the back end. Imagine paying five extra bucks for one pair of shoes. I have to pay five bucks for 100 or 1,000.”
Willie Sanders, owner of House of Heat Chi on the Near South Side, says business has been slow this year. His manager and brother Rick Wilson wonders whether consumer psychology has affected sales.
“So just the thought of tariffs, whether they are real or not, people are probably tightening up on their wallets,” Wilson says. “I think people just became a little bit more cautious with their dollar.”
Sanders says the tariffs won’t hurt the consumer as much as his business. The hike in tariffs might start to affect his shop soon because, unlike Sykes, Sanders hasn’t been stocking inventory ahead of time. “Things have been tight, so we’ve been buying as needed,” he says.
“The scarcity of product ... will drive up prices itself,” Priest says. “The broader concern is that these small businesses are just not going to have access to the inventory they need.”
Priest doesn’t see even devoted sneakerheads continuing to buy: “Typically, when prices go up, demand goes down.”
And Paul Wilkinson, a friend of Sykes and a sales manager in the footwear industry, says shoppers without a passion for footwear might cut back.
“You go to other retailers, lower-level retailers or general-purpose retailers, and those shoppers start to make maybe different decisions because they’re not as much of a discerning consumer who has a serious passion for footwear,” he says.
But Terrill Hines says he’ll keep spending.
“I’m going to have to take care of my kids,” Hines says. “I know it feels so good to put on a fresh pair of shoes.”
