Global Business Thane International Inc. CEO Amir Tukulj on overcoming obstacles and making retail a primary objective STORY BY VITISIA PAYNICH d Thane International CEO Amir Tukulj with VP of Marketing Sladana Tukulj Popovic and President Daniela Todorvic. PHOTOS BY DANIEL ALEXANDER During the early days of the direct response business, if you wanted to succeed in the international marketplace, you had to break down barriers. That’s a lesson CEO Amir Tukulj learned firsthand back in the late ’90s when launching Thane Direct internationally from Canada – a lesson he follows to this day, especially in this competitive global marketplace. “We keep breaking down barriers like introducing a DRTV-supported retail model in many of the international markets,” he says. Electronic Retailer spoke one-onone with Tukulj about the challenges that he encountered early on, Thane’s multi-faceted business model and why he believes the industry will move more toward a retail-support business model. Entering the Industry Tu ku lj f irst became involved in direct response marketing in 1989, 27 June 2011 | electronicRETAILER