GREENFIELD, Wis. — A Wisconsin sub sandwich shop is trying to avoid raising its prices as it deals with tariff uncertainties.
Joshua Bizub, owner of Gold Coast Subs in Greenfield, said he’s been trying to balance fluctuating costs.
“As soon as tariff day came on, you could see the price changes instantly,” Bizub said. “You saw the produce slowly start to rise. You saw some of your equipment prices slowly start to rise.”
Bizub said even though the amount of business his shop is doing is up, his profits are down about 12%. He said he attributes that to higher prices for supplies.
He said kitchen equipment, like vegetable dicers — which he goes through frequently — has gone up in cost by about $10.
He said one of the biggest price hikes has been for tomatoes. Bizub said those are costing him about 10% more now than they did last month.
The sub shop owner said he’s having to be strategic in order to not raise prices for his customers.
“I’ve been shopping around for different suppliers a lot,” Bizub said. “I may typically order lettuce from one produce supplier, and now I have to buy from a different supplier that can get me a cheaper price.”
Mike Schellinger is a longtime customer who has a lot of great memories of going to the sub shop with his dad when he was a kid. He said he’s willing to pay more if Bizub ends up needing to raise prices because it’s important to keep small neighborhood businesses intact.
“If the prices have to go up in order to keep them open, we accept it, and it protects the nostalgia, or the difference of a small business to make sure they stick around,” said Schellinger.
