Jacksonville’s MFG Merch doubles workforce, triples warehouse space amid tariff-driven demand (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Tariffs have led many businesses to adjust, to slow down or to cease altogether. But for one local merchandise manufacturer, tariffs have led the business to grow.
Jerry Rodriguez, founder of MFG Merch LLC, said part of his business is overseas and has slowed down, but the domestic portion of his business, which includes merchandise finishing and fulfillment, has grown exponentially.
“We work with a lot of businesses in their uniform programs or clothing brands and their products,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of them were getting stuff out of Mexico or China, and now the stuff out of Mexico is essentially the same price to have it done domestically, and we can have it done a lot faster.”
MFG Merch has grown about 80% since January.
“We definitely are seeing a benefit. We’ve been able to hire a lot of people,” Rodriguez said.
The screen printing side of the business has grown from about 27 employees to 49 employees. And from five screen printing presses to eight. In embroidery, the team also grew, from 12 to 32 people.
Rodriguez doesn’t see this exact rate of growth lasting into 2026.
“We see it continuing, but I don’t believe it’s going to be on the same caliber as it was from January to now,” he said.
He said if things do slow down, it will allow his team to work on maintaining turnaround times, which can range from seven to 10 business days.
MFG Merch operates out of a warehouse at 240 Talleyrand Avenue, where it originally owned roughly 16,000 square feet of space. Earlier this year, as leases in neighboring warehouses expired, the company seized the opportunity to expand its footprint to keep pace with its growth.
Rodriguez said MFG Merch now controls about 40,000 square feet of warehouse space in the Talleyrand area, spread across five separate buildings.
In addition, the company owns another warehouse of roughly 50,000 square feet off Myrtle Avenue, which it currently leases to other tenants.
According to Rodriguez, Jacksonville has a shortage of older light industrial warehouse product up to 25,000 square feet.
While Rodriguez is looking at other warehouses, he said they like the Talleyrand area and being across the street from clients the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He said that MFG Merch has felt “kind of insulated” from the negative side of the tariffs and fortunate to be able to help people.
“It feels like a blessing, because the people that we’re hiring are so grateful for a job,” he said.