Founded 1976 | ||
Exotica International was a women's clothing business founded by Raj K. Randhawa. Randhawa's daughter, Nikki Haley was the company's CFO before becoming Governor of South Carolina.
Randhawa earned her law degree from the University of Delhi and immigrated to the United States with her husband, Ajit S. Randhawa. In the United States, Raj Randhawa earned a master's degree in education and taught for seven years in the Bamberg, South Carolina public schools before founding Exotica in 1976.
The shop began as an imported giftware boutique, expanding by adding clothing in 1980. For three decades, the shop was a major clothing retailer in the Midlands of South Carolina. By 2004, Exotica had an annual revenue of $1.8 million and Mrs. Raj Randhawa was running the business together with her daughters Simran and Nikki.
Mrs. Randhawa closed the shop and retired in 2008.
Employees
Mrs. Randhawa put her daughter, Nikki Haley, to work after school as a bookkeeper from the time Nikki was 12 years old. She earned her degree from Clemson University in accounting and became company comptroller. Comparing Haley with another shopkeeper's daughter, Margaret Thatcher, The Economist asserts that Haley's girlhood job in her mother's shop gave her, "an extreme watchfulness about overheads and a sharp aversion to government intrusion."
All 4 of the Randhawa children worked in the shop, as did their granddaughter, Alyssa Randhawa. Ajit Randhawa joined the business after his retirement as professor and chairman of the Division of Natural Sciences, Math and Computer Sciences at Voorhees College in 1998. Son-in-law Michael Haley worked as men's wear manager.