Business owners share struggle to ‘keep up’ under Biden-Harris economy: ‘Forced to close’
The economy remains a top issue among voters with 40 days until the election
Hispanic business owner sends message to Biden-Harris about crippling inflation: Why haven’t you done anything?
Small business owners Shana Gray, Ryan Sprankle and Rafael Arroyo share the impact inflation has had on their companies and weigh VP Harris and former President Trump’s economic policies.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, small businesses nationwide have been reeling under the weight of crippling inflation, prompting the economy to emerge as a top issue for voters ahead of election day.
One Hispanic business owner sounded off on Biden-Harris policies, comparing the economic performance of the past two administrations.
"I saw what the economy was doing during the Trump administration. I was able to grow my business. I was able to open more locations. And, you know, that hasn't been the case in the Biden-Harris administration," Rafael Arroyo said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday.
"I've been stagnant. I've been dealing with fighting these rising costs, having to battle for employee pay and trying to raise the prices so I can keep up."
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A recent Fox News Poll shows high prices will be the main factor driving voters to cast ballots this fall, as an increasing number say grocery prices and housing costs are tough for their family.
At least 6 in 10 voters say grocery prices (66%) and housing costs (60%) are a major problem for their family. In May, those numbers were at 62% for groceries and 47% for housing costs.
"It's really crazy how much it's increased and especially in niche businesses or things in auto parts and things like that. I mean, some things we're seeing double and triple the price. It's really hard to make any money like that," Arroyo added.
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"Inflation has been through the roof the last three years really, and it's driven a lot of our costs up... But yet discretionary spending amongst our customers, especially in the higher margin items, has decreased, causing us to be flat or at times down in sales in spite of inflation being through the roof," Sprankle's Market owner Ryan Sprankle told co-host Steve Doocy.
Earlier this week, former President Trump visited Sprankle's store and made headlines when he handed a Pennsylvania mom of three $100 at a grocery store checkout line to take the pinch out of her bill.
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According to ConsumerAffairs, the Keystone State saw the highest grocery inflation rate in the U.S. with an 8.2% increase in prices.
"We've tried to just become super, super efficient in that way and especially in the buying end of it to try to hold the prices. But in all reality we've been forced to give up margin to be competitive and that's that's hurt us because we haven't had the money to reinvest like we have previously," Sprankle said.
A Fox News Poll found, by 17 points, more voters see the Trump administration’s policies as more helpful than harmful, whereas by 24 points they see the Biden administration’s policies as more hurtful.
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One café owner had to close down her business during the Biden presidency because of rising costs.
"I was forced to close. The weight of the cost of goods. The weight of the economy itself. It's just more or less my customer could not come in to spend residual income," Shana Gray said. "And then to add insult to injury because of my appearance of making these issues vocal, I end up getting a side of liberal trolls that wanted to shut me down as well. So, that was a lot to deal with in this rocky economy."
Gray had previously voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, but she said it is "definitely not looking" like she will vote for Vice President Harris in November. The former cafe owner specifically called out elements of Harris' opportunity economy plan.
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"[Harris] spoke about the $50,000 that she plans to give to small businesses. But understand, those small little economic injections of capital is pointless if you can't get things to balance. That's the unfortunate part," she said.
"I would just say to Harris and the Biden-Harris administration, if you had all these great ideas, why haven't you done it? Republicans are pretty pro-small business, so I'm sure you could get something done if they're actually good ideas. But it looks like she's just waiting to try to get elected," Arroyo argued.
Fox News' Taylor Penley and Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
