Is Mardi Gras immune to tariff concerns?

Maybe “immune” isn’t the word. According to some of the people who work year-round to make sure Mobile’s maskers are well supplied with beads, plush toys and light-up trinkets, it’s been a very challenging year.

Fat Tuesday falls early in 2026, meaning that Carnival preparations are already intruding into the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas holiday season. The shelves and warehouses are full at Toomey’s Mardi Gras, a family-owned importer that has specialized in seasonal merchandise for years. The same is true at Pop’s Midtown, a smaller, younger business that includes Mardi Gras in its rotation of seasonal specialties.

At both places, buyers said they’ve been grappling with uncertain economics all year.

“The tariff thing, I mean, that has just been

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