Tariffs Squeeze Cheese & Wine Imports as Ricoh Plans NYC GR Space

Specialty food importers and small businesses are navigating steep pre-holiday tariff and fuel costs as Canadian cheeses disappear from U.S. counters and European wine shipments drop, according to reporting by Mike Johnson in Hoodline. Across consumer retail, hospitality, and travel media this weekend, Ricoh Imaging announced plans to open its first U.S. GR Space in New York City in winter 2027 (Hoodline), former Hotel Viking sales director Marlen Scalzi looked back on growing up inside Newport's newly renovated 100-year-old landmark (Hoodline), and the Hawaii Tourism Authority faced scrutiny over a $584,000 no-bid television contract (Hoodline).

50% Canadian Cheese Tariff and 16.8% Drop in U.S. Wine Import Volume

At The Cut Butchery in Alexandria, Virginia — opened in 2025 by Ben Knezic — imported wine prices have risen 10% and Canadian cheeses have been pulled from the display case after the United States added Canadian cheese to its 50% tariff list on Sept. 15 and banned Canadian whey imports on Sept. 29 under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (a move the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension estimates could trim $0.20 to $0.35 per hundredweight off U.S. milk prices, or $0.10 to $0.50 in a wider range, reducing Wisconsin farm milk sales by $65 million to $113 million annually).

According to the Tax Foundation, 52% of U.S. food imports — worth about $116 billion based on 2024 values — remain subject to IEEPA tariffs after exemptions, including a 15% tariff on 96% of European Union food imports as of Feb. 1. First-half 2026 trade data from the drinks business show U.S. wine imports fell 16.8% in volume and 25.2% in value (with average import prices down 10.1% to €4.52 per liter, French shipments down 25% to €955.8 million, and Italian shipments falling to €791 million). Meanwhile, Express Moving and Storage co-owner Robin Boldt reported that diesel truck fill-ups have risen from $250 to nearly $300 amid the Iran conflict.

Ricoh’s First U.S. GR Space in NYC, Hotel Viking’s Centennial, and Hawaii’s $584K TV Contract

• Ricoh GR Space New York City (Winter 2027): Marking the 30th anniversary of the GR camera line introduced in 1996, Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation President Ken Curry announced that the company will open its first U.S. GR Space showroom, classroom, and gallery in New York City in winter 2027 — joining 6 existing global spaces in Tokyo (opened in Harajuku in August 2024), Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Brisbane, and Seoul. Following 2025 CIPA figures showing compact cameras with built-in lenses rose 30% to 25.8% of global shipments (52.7% in Japan) while overall digital camera shipments grew 11% and DSLRs fell 31%, Ricoh is also developing a 40mm-equivalent GR IVx alongside its 28mm APS-C GR IV after winding down GR IIIx shipments in October 2026.
• Newport’s Hotel Viking Turns 100: Marlen Scalzi, 74 — whose father Len Scalzi served as general manager of Newport, Rhode Island's Hotel Viking from the end of World War II until 1970, and who lived in a 2-bedroom upstairs apartment until 1972 (where Peter, Paul and Mary's Paul Stookey taught her guitar) before serving as the hotel's director of sales and marketing in 2007 — celebrated the property's May 2026 centennial reopening with Newport Mayor Charlie Holder and the band Deer Tick. Acquired on April 17 by KHP Capital Partners as the 3rd investment in a $300 million fund (after closing in September 2025, when over 100 staff were laid off and invited to reapply), the redesigned 208-room hotel features 4 culinary concepts (Pescadou, Cap Club, Skoal Room, and Tuck Shop), Spa Fjör, 13,000 square feet of event space (including the 400-guest Viking Ballroom), its original 1926 brass letter and key boxes, and the Kingscote Suite in Scalzi's former family apartment ($1,323 weekend rate, over $1,792 in peak summer), following earlier Newport hotel upgrades including $14 million at the Newport Marriott in 2006 and $23 million across 264 rooms at the Newport Hyatt in 2007.
• Hawaii Tourism Authority’s $584,000 No-Bid Contract: As reported by Honolulu Civil Beat (which interviewed 9 Hawaii film professionals), the Hawaii Tourism Authority awarded a no-bid contract of up to $584,000 (listed at $760,000 on the state contracting website, plus $250,000 from private partners) to mainland broadcaster Peter Greenberg and Check Six Productions, Inc. for a 4-part travel series, "Hidden Hawaiʻi," projected to reach 103 million viewers over 3 years after Greenberg met for nearly 2 hours with DBEDT Director James Tokioka. Film Production Tourism Standing Committee Chair Mericia Palma Elmore said her board received no notice of the award, even as a $850,000 state filmmaker fund approved in 2022 took until 2024 to distribute $400,000 ($100,000 in $3,000–$15,000 short-film grants and $300,000 in $16,000–$50,000 feature grants) across 23 of 113 applicants (including Jordan Kandell, while Duncan Caillard noted 10 to 15 Native Hawaiian filmmakers could produce such a series), against the backdrop of a 2020 DBEDT study showing 30 of 174 above-the-line incentivized jobs went to residents (with 2,190 industry workers in July 2022), Senate Bill 2580's July expansion of Hawaii's 20% Oahu / 25% neighbor-island tax credit to $20 million per production ($60 million cap plus a 5% bonus for an 80% local crew after production spending rose 116% from $164.5 million to $355.6 million between 2007 and 2019), and HTA's earlier 2022 dispute over a $22.5 million / $34 million brand contract.