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The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China has seen a number of rounds of tariffs imposed by both countries. For example, in May 2019, the U.S. started imposing a 25% tax on imported goods from China on items such as furniture and lighting products. New tariffs could take effect in the coming months, but the situation has been very fluid and unclear.  For our industry, tariffs have had an impact, “but we can’t do anything right now,” says George Stroumboulis, Ideoli’s CEO and Co-Founder. “We’ve got to let everything settle.” George notes that for now, Ideoli is absorbing a lot of the additional costs that come from paying tariffs on imported items for our clients, and we’re not alone in this regard. Many companies have global supply chains with important items coming from China, and even some local, U.S-based manufacturers have to deal with these tariffs because they import certain components to aid their overall production. However, because the situation keeps evolving rapidly, we don’t want to make knee-jerk decisions like changing our pricing or supply chain practices. Instead, says George, “We just need to sit back, let things happen and from there we’ll re-evaluate and discuss with our partners and clients.” We’ll provide more updates as this situation progresses. Stay tuned!

In our view, being a successful global business doesn’t just mean invigorating spaces so we can please clients and grow our revenues; it also means doing our share to give back to the communities that contribute to our business and help shape our company.  As such, Ideoli gets involved with a number of charitable causes through our “Invigorate Your Community” initiative. One of those causes recently involved preparing lunch for the homeless at a church in downtown Manhattan. “At Ideoli we really want to venture out into the community; we want to have a community footprint the same way we have an international footprint,” says Chris Hartswick, Ideoli’s Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer. “Getting out there, especially as a team, bonding as a team and giving back, there’s nothing better than that.”  In addition to this initiative in New York, we’ve gotten involved in a number of other great causes and projects over the years, such as giving back to schools in Mexico. We are also actively working on some projects where our products will help invigorate local communities. We look forward to giving back in more ways!

We’re not perfect, but we’re pretty damn close. And when we do run into roadblocks, we use our passion, determination and creativity to come up with solutions.  For example, for a recent order, when a client requested a vital component be added after the order left our factory, we had to think quick. So when we received the shipment, we decided to make the adjustments to the hundreds of custom furniture units on site at the client’s warehouse, even though it meant hunkering down indoors and missing out on the California sunshine. With our superhero team on hand, we were in and out within a couple days. Making sure the client had what they needed was our top priority, and thanks to a quick repsonse they were able to proceed with their operations.   Whatever it takes to please clients, we find a way to get it done!