Americans love their pets.
And their pets love the toys. Americans buy them by the millions each year, at stores like Walmart, Target, Petco and RiteAid.
Most Americans don’t know that a majority of those pet toys are designs from LRY Enterprises.
Fewer still know that LRY is run out of the home office of owner Leslie Yellin, right here in Westport.
That makes our town a major player in the pet toy world.
And it puts Yellin on the front line in the recent tariff wars that whipsawed that world — and every other business one.
Leslie Yellin with her latex pigs — the #2 best-selling pet toy in the US.
Yellin has spent her entire working career — beginning with baking dog treats in the back of Lick Your Chops, the Main Street pet store — in the industry.
She has never seen the turmoil she sees now.
For over 30 years she has built relationships with factory owners and companies oveseas. That’s where all her toys are made.
“Maybe once you could manufacture them here,” she says. “But there’s no way you can make a $2 cat toy in the US now, when you’re paying employees $15 an hour.”
Last week, President Trump slapped China with a minimum tariff rate of 145 percent. That stunned the country — and Yellin.
Leslie Yellin with pink pet toys she created to raise awareness of breast cancer.
“We’ve worked with generations of families” in China, Yellin says. “It would be painful to take business from them.”
Painful — but necessary. To survive, she must find factories in other countries.
“No one can do business this way,” Yellin notes.
“My company and big retailers can absorb some of the tariffs. But small companies, and most consumers, can’t. This is impossible. It will kill businesses, and lives.
“We are all in a daze,” Yellin says, speaking of manufacturers in many sectors. “We’re all asking: What’s the end game?”
When the first round of tariffs was announced, Chinese factories offered concessions. “They wanted to help,” Yellin says.
“But no one can absorb 145%. There is an entire group of manufacturers, just waiting and holding our breath.”
Yellin hopes there is a path to negotiation. If so, that must include recognition that China is treated with respect.
“Saving face is important” to those politicians and businesspeople, she says. “That’s the challenge politically,” for an administration that has not showed much respect for trading partners.
She could find manufacturers in countries like Cambodia and Vietnam. Trump announced tariffs of 49 and 45 percent on those nations, then paused them for 90 days.
No matter what happens, Yellin notes, “you can’t just flip a switch, and start manufacturing somewhere else. There”s a big learning curve, and a huge supply chain effect.”
In addition, she notes, all materials used in pet toys will still come from China.
“You can shuffle things around all you want, but the cost of goods may be even higher in the end if they have to be exported from there,” to be made somewhere else before arriving in the US.
Looking ahead, Yellin says, “People will spend less. They’ll buy cheaper products.” If the Chinese tariffs hold, “it will be devastating for middle- and lower-class Americans.”
Still, she says, her sector will not be hit as hard as some others.
“When a bad economy hits, pet toys and cosmetics do okay. During COVID our sales were up 25%. Pets are a source of happiness. People don’t let their pets suffer.”
But high tariffs are not a recipe for success overall. Major price increases in areas like medications and healthcare have particularly dire implications, Yellin says.
Meanwhile, she says, “I speak to major retailers all the time. We look at each other and say, ‘What are we going to do?’ Right now, we’re all in a holding pattern. Something has to give.”
Some Chinese factory owners have offered to change their invoices, to hide the source of a product (for, perhaps, a side payment). Some American companies may do that, she says. LRY Enterprises will not.
In this country, Yellin says, “Walmart says they don’t want to raise prices. I commend them. But we’re all going to have to eat these increases.”
Still, life goes on. The toy company owner is doing what she always would at this time of year: designing toys for the 2026 holiday season.
But, Yellin says, “I can’t do that forever. Something has to give. I’d love to know the answer: What’s the end game?”
(“06880” is where Westport meets the world — politically, economically, and every other way. If you appreciate stories like these, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
