Medicine Hat wedding supplier pivots beyond industry in tariff response

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Weddingstar is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of wedding and event products worldwide.

85 per cent of the company’s sales are outside of Canada, the U.S. being its largest market currently being impacted by U.S. export tariffs.

Rick Brink, CEO of Weddingstar, said the company’s Canadian site currently runs with all of their products, unlike the U.S. site where products are being taken off.

“I think no matter where the tariffs go, we need to be focused more on Canada,” he said.

Brink said Weddingstar began expanding a couple of years ago to focus on a personalized gift line, that also involves events such as Mother’s Day and birthdays.

“[We need to be] getting across to people across Canada that we are a personalized gift line, we have a lot of unique products, and really try to make sure that we can stabilize ourselves in case things change down the road,” Brink said.

Brink said Weddingstar began expanding to focus on a personalized gift line. Courtesy/Weddingstar Inc.

Brink said the change also came with weddings themselves.

“Before, they were pretty traditional. Now, it’s just about anything goes for a wedding,” he said.

Brink said with the change of the market, the company needed to diversify and try to eliminate any risks.

He said things were initially going well, when all of a sudden tariffs that nobody could predict came into play.

“These tariffs will eventually change, but the problem is the confusion of what will it change to?” he said.

“A fifty per cent tariff still is going to block most orders going into the United States.”

Brink said with the change of the market, Weddingstar needed to diversify and try to eliminate any risks. Kevin Kyle/CHAT News

Brink said the company is able to shift some of its sales into the Canadian market, but that the country’s market is “only so big”.

He said the U.S. is such a huge market population-wise, and it’s hard to replace 340 million people, that make up 75 per cent of their business.

Brink said Weddingstar can diversify into some areas in Canada and increase sales, but it does really need the U.S. market.

“Even with our talks with U.S. companies and that, they’re going through as much pain as we are,” he said.

“You’d be thinking that they’re protecting the U.S. market and the U.S. retailers, but they’re uncertain with what to do, and they can’t place any of their orders,” he added.

“Unfortunately, there is no other places to go. Most of the items are made in China. Probably fifty per cent of the stuff that’s in your household came from China.”

Brink said most of the company’s competition is in the U.S., and that there might also be an opportunity to pick up some sales “right here in Weddingstar’s backyard”.

by Jayk Sterkenburg

Medicine Hat wedding supplier pivots beyond industry in tariff response

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