Lynnwood K-pop store wary of new tariffs

EVERETT — Todd Dickinson and Ricky Steinlar should be pleased right now.

The owners of The K-POP Empire moved from Everett to a much bigger location in Lynnwood. Loyal customers seem to love the store’s collection of T-shirts, plushy dolls, stickers advertising various bands and key chains.

Weeks after moving into their Lynnwood soft opening on April 2, the entrepreneurs can’t help but worry about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on their business.

“This should be a happy time for us,” Dickinson said, “But as business owners, in the back of our heads we’re wondering how long can we sustain our business if we have to pass along these higher costs to our customers.”

K-pop, the pop music genre from South Korea plays throughout the new store in a shopping center at 44 Avenue West near the Lynnwood City Center station. At 5,000 square feet, it is more than double the space of their old location in the Everett Mall.

Around 40% of the store’s merchandise comes from China, according to the owners. The country has been subject to the most significant tariffs from the Trump administration. Currently, most goods exported from China are subject to a combined 145% tariff.

Other store merchandise, including albums from South Korea, face an import fee of 10%. An additional 25% tariff from that country is on hold as trade talks continue between U.S. and South Korea.

Dickinson said one popular item the store sells from China are lightsticks. The hand-held, battery-powered devices are held by K-Pop fans at concerts and create synchronized light shows. They come in a variety of colors and sizes.

The average lightstick pre-tariff sold for $60 to $80 at K-POP Empire. The price is marked up 20%, Dickinson said.

“The tariffs worry us because we don’t want to pass the cost along but we can’t absorb it, Dickinson said. “We’re trying very, very hard to keep our pricing as fair as possible.”

At some price point, he worries, consumers might stop buying.

Trump imposed the tariffs on China on April 9, but the store’s first post-tariffs shipment from China only arrived a week ago. Dickinson and Steinlars are still waiting for the bill, so they haven’t yet repriced store items.

Dickinson and Steinlars are both from Los Angeles. They moved to Everett in 2021 to be closer to Dickinson’s family members, who live in Bellingham.

They quickly noticed that there was a dearth of K-pop stores in Washington and got the idea to open one.

“In California, it’s a saturated market,” Steinlars said.

Their store opened in the Everett Mall in June 2023.

Customers especially loved when the store would hold trading events, where K-pop fans would trade photos of their favorite groups. The photos are kept in albums.

Steinlars said trading events have also opened bridges for people new to Snohomish County and without a lot of social connections.

He said he wanted to duplicate the atmosphere in California, where everyone seems friendly and was open to new interactions, as opposed to what he saw as the more reserved nature of people in Puget Sound region.

“They call it the Seattle freeze, but music brings people together,” Steinlars said.

Dickinson said the planned closure of the Everett Mall in the next few months, which will be replaced by an outdoor shopping plaza, led to the move to Lynnwood.

The pair ultimately found a spot in a Lynnwood shopping center near the light rail for $4,000 a month.

“They said we could stay in our location, but we already signed the new lease in Lynnwood,” he said.

The store opened in its new location three days before Trump imposed a 10% tariff on goods from South Korea. While a pending 25% additional tariff on merchandise from that country is on hold, Steinlars said that led to confusion as orders arrived.

He said one order from South Korea had a 25% tariff imposed while another had a 10% charge. Dickinson and Steinlars have kept the price of music albums affordable while they figure it all out.

“It’s a treat for our customers to buy an album for $20 t0 $25,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson and Steinlars said they don’t have a lot of cash reserves to deal with the fallout from the tariffs.

“We built this business from the ground up from our savings,” he said. “We are a small business.”

Kelly Petersen is one customer they won’t be losing. The Everett woman loves K-pop and was a regular at the old K-POP Empire Store in The Everett Mall.

”I’m deep into it,’ she said.

The enlarged store in Lynnwood is ideal for trading album photos, Peterson said. She spent a recent Saturday trading photos with 50 other guests.

“They probably will have to raise the prices with the tariffs, but as someone who likes to collect albums, I’m going to continue to support this store,” she said.

Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.