COLORADO SPRINGS — From staples like tortillas and avocados to specialty items like handcrafted ceramics, many products in Luna Market, a local Mexican grocery store near South Academy Boulevard and Airport Road, are becoming more expensive due to rising import taxes.
Store owners say keeping shelves stocked is becoming increasingly costly.
For many in Colorado Springs, this market is a go-to spot for authentic ingredients they cannot find elsewhere.
"We usually shop here, like, we try to do it every weekend," said Emiliano Lopez and Isaac Sepulveda.
Lopez and Sepulveda visited the market to find ingredients for a traditional Mexican dish called ‘carne con papa,’ or meat with potatoes. Their shock came as they looked at the prices for some of the ingredients.
"The avocado(s)… they used to be like 50 cents... But now, you see the price, it goes from like $1 to $2, sometimes even $3, so it's definitely kind of scary" said Lopez.
What used to be an affordable grocery stop for families has become a tougher decision. Store owners say higher import taxes mean higher prices at the register.
"It was a surprise. We were not prepared for this, you know? Because if prices are still rising, imagine, with the tariffs now, the price is going to rise double or triple," said Alma Padilla, a store employee.
Customers are also noticing the price hikes. When asked how much they expected to pay, Sepulveda estimated, "$40 to $50, I'll say."
Lopez quickly disagreed. "No, that's sugarcoating. I'm pretty sure it's going to be like around $60-70."
In reality, they paid more than $70 for just a handful of ingredients.
"Before, we would give the customers an avocado at $1.99. Now the avocado is $3.99, $4.29 for one. The limes, we sold them by the pound. It used to be $1.99, now it has doubled. The meat also doubled. We used to sell it at $7.99 a pound; now it's $12.99 for the same pound," said Padilla.
For now, store owners say they are doing their best to keep prices as low as possible. However, if tariffs remain in place, the impact on businesses and shoppers alike will only grow.
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