A beloved online board game retailer is shutting down due to the US trade tariffs. Boardlandia, a popular online operation dedicated to quality, cannot move past the 145% (at the time of writing) trade tariffs on Chinese imports. As a result they have announced their closure.
The Boardlandia Online Closure
According to a report by Board Game Wire, the Boardlandia closure is a direct result of the US trade tariffs adding, “an unsustainable burden” to existing financial challenges by the business.
In the report, Boardlandia’s owners, Tim and Karissa Fendt, said that despite pouring their personal savings, time, and countless hard hours of work into the company, there was no financially viable way to overcome the obstacle of Chinese tariffs. The Fendts did confirm that the brick-and-mortar store of Boardlandia in Appleton, Wisconsin, is not part of this closure.
“Please know that this outcome is not what we ever envisioned. We are not walking away from a thriving venture.
This closure is a direct result of circumstances that have become beyond our control, and it carries significant personal financial consequences for us as well.
We understand that you, our valued customers, may have questions and even concerns during this time.
We want to assure you that this was not a decision taken lightly or with any intention other than to responsibly address the financial realities we now face.”
The Fendts confirmed that they are committed to shipping out any unfulfilled orders for which they have stock. They did not say how they will approach refunds for pre-orders or items that are out-of-stock.
The Boardlandia online store closure is yet another extension of the volatile actions by the Trump Administration in the past two months. Due to the vast majority of board game accessories and products are produced overseas in China, a 145% increase in important cost has severely impacted multiple tableop developers and publishers like Sentinels of the Multiverse developer Greater Than Games.
It is an act so devastating Stonemaier Games is filing a lawsuit against the administration over its use of trade tariffs.
