When Amy Smilovic created the fashion line Tibi in 1997, she was living in Hong Kong. Navigating foreign trade rules added additional challenges to the already difficult task of starting a new business.
Smilovic joins to discuss how she was able to get the company off the ground before eventually relocating back the United States. She highlights that, beyond foreign trade rules, you also have to take language barriers into consideration.
In the 20 years since Tibi was founded, the retail industry has gone through massive changes. The rise of e-commerce has forced clothing brands to alter their sales strategies. Smilovic explains how Tibi made the adjustment to online, and predicts how much growth she expects to see in e-commerce.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
