Inflation concerns still trouble small businesses in Michigan

Small businesses across Michigan are still navigating inflation concerns with more changes on the way.

Rare Ends retail shop in West Bloomfield has been open since 1978 when Ariana Carps' parents started the business. After getting her first job there at 14, Carps now runs the shop.

"I love being a part of a small business. I love the faces that come in. I love making people happy through fashion,” Carps said.

Through the highs of her passion, the shop isn't immune to the many challenges facing small businesses.

“It’s always a challenge in good times and bad. Small business isn’t easy because your hands are in so many different pots," Carps said. “One of the really difficult things for us right now is the rising cost of goods. You know, there’s nothing we can do. I’m not producing it."

Buying goods, she faces what more than 450 small businesses in Michigan reported struggling with in a recent survey by the Small Business Association of Michigan. Inflation was the top concern.

You can read the survey below:

Small Business Summer Surve... by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit

Carps has seen the impact on customers.

"I do see people take pause more than they would have," she said.

It also makes her take pause on making sure the products she buys are top value.

“We’ve been watching it rise slowly, slowly, quickly, and I think that’s the hard thing,” Carps said.

Kwontrell Stowers, executive chef and general manager at Zao Jun in West Bloomfield, says they've also been navigating inflation and decided to lower menu prices to bring in more customers.

They're also opening a boba tea bar in the restaurant next week.

"It actually brings in another revenue stream for us and at the same time helps me actually keep some labor in the house that I wouldn’t have otherwise," Stowers said.

Felicien Goudou, economic associate professor at Wayne State University, says businesses may also be increasing pay and benefits to be competitive and meet policy mandates.

"The rising labor cost is really a concern for those small business, and that makes perfect sense," Goudou said. "Then you also have to think about the fact that now, we have labor shortages so people, they are quitting their jobs."

Goudou says the data shows the worst of inflation is over, but he understands the concerns will linger and may trickle down to consumers' spending habits.