QVC’s Jane Treacy Is Coming To Find You, Shawn Killinger’s Hemorrhoids

There’s always brouhahas over QVC host behavior, and the latest ones are classics. They involve Jane Treacy and Shawn Killinger, polarizing figures in the home shopping world.

As for Treacy, she just did a redux of a bit of a rant she had a few months ago, when she stepped up close to the camerca and said she was watching QVC watchers who were criticizing her daughters on social media. It was a veiled threat, one that she repeated on Friday.

Here’s the deal. Treacy constantly talks about her daughters when she’s presenting products. It doesn’t bother us, and we think she is an OK host.

But she does have her fair share of detractors who blast her for bringing up her kids. There are also a lot of nasty comments on her weight, hairstyle, makeup, etc.

Anyway, Treacy’s first audience admonishment to QVC viewers was way out of line. We blogged about her threatening shoppers, and she was lambasted on FB for it.

But we guess she likes courting controversy, because she was at it again last week. Once again, she walked up close to the camera to sound off.

“Don’t talk about my children in a bad way on social media,” she warned. “I’m coming to find you.”

OK. No. 1, people are criticizing her — not her children — on social media. And she is fueling the fire when she keeps bringing them up.

No. 2, she is taking swipes at QVC customers. Some sales teams in other industries have their calls to clients monitored. If the sales people take a bad turn with a customer, let’s just say it’s not a happy outcome. YOU DON’T INSULT YOUR CUSTOMERS!

Even if you appear to joking, it’s not funny or smart behavior for a sales person. Treacy should have gotten a warning from management the first time she mouthed off. If she didn’t, her bosses are stupid. If she did, she totally ignored what they told her. More quasi threats from her, even though we don’t really expect Treacy will be hunting any online critics down.

Here’s our advice to her, and she’s welcome to find us in New Jersey if she doesn’t like it: Knock it off!

On another sour note, we see some QVC viewers were theatening to boycott Killinger when she talked about her hemorrhoids on-air. That had us laughing out loud, even though it was a bit TMI.

We guess the “Age of Possibility” that QVC is touting for women over 50 has its drawbacks.

QVC Looks To Cater to Chicas 50 And Over Like The Homeshoppingista

Well, butter our buns and call us a biscuit!

QVC has assembled a pretty, pretty impressive list of women 50 and older for a new initiative, targeted at our demo. The “Q50” includes Christina Applegate, Patti LaBelle, Rita Wilson, Naomi Watts, Martha Stewart and Queen Latifah. Stewart and Latifah are from New Jersey, like us, BTW.

The “Age of Possibility” campaign kicks off at an April 24 summit in Las Vegas.

Here’s the press release from corprate in West Chester.

April 16, 2024 – QVC, a world leader in live shopping, today announced the brand’s next chapter which will embolden women over the age of 50 to seize what’s next from a life stage that is too often ignored and under-supported by mainstream brands. Declaring this chapter of life after 50 as the Age of Possibility, QVC’s new campaign platform aims to reflect age 50+ for what it really is: a vibrant stage of life, full of new questions, changes, opportunities and hopes.

As part of the Age of Possibility, QVC is introducing the Quintessential 50 (Q50), comprised of QVC hosts, celebrities, activists, entrepreneurs and more, whose experiences and achievements prove the possibilities that this time of life offers for women. With their fresh input, unique perspective and modern taste, the Q50 will help guide QVC’s efforts to support women in their Age of Possibility by influencing QVC’s programming and product offerings.

The Q50 features a dynamic group of women including celebrity entertainers such as Christina Applegate, Queen Latifah, Naomi Watts, Patti LaBelle, Rita Wilson, Sherri Shepherd, Sandra Lee and Kathie Lee Gifford; public figures including Billie Jean King, Donna Kelce and Tamsen Fadal; influential leaders including Dr. Mary Claire Haver, Karen Knudsen and Joy Bauer; friends and vendors of QVC such as Martha Stewart, Mally Roncal, Carla Hall and Kim Gravel; and many more. See here for the full list http://www.qvc.com/50.

“QVC has a longstanding relationship serving the 50+ customer, and we’re uniquely positioned to launch this dedicated effort that we hope will spur a cultural shift in attitude and behavior towards women over 50,” said Annette Dunleavy, Vice President Brand Marketing, QVC, and a member of the Q50. “The Age of Possibility platform represents an underestimated period of freedom, exploration and transformation to look forward to as women age, a prime time of a woman’s life where anything is possible and living in authenticity is unapologetic.”

According to QVC, there is an “alarming gap between how much women expect from life after 50 versus how little the world actually supports those expectations.”

In a third-party research survey, 3,713 respondents found that 62% of women ages 50 to 70 feel that entering age 50 and beyond is viewed by society as a time of decline – and the No. 1 misconception these women are most excited to prove wrong is that they are resistant to change and new experiences.

The survey also found that only 31% of women ages 50-70 feel supported by brands – as compared to 58% of women ages 18-29 and 41% of women ages 30-49 – reaffirming the importance of the Age of Possibility as an ongoing, authentic commitment for QVC.

Shawn Killinger, a polarizing QVC host, weighed in and is part of the club.

“We are breaking boundaries and dismantling old stereotypes,” she said in a statement. “Aging with passion and purpose is something that should be sought, not fought. Everything I have always wanted has come to me later in life when I was truly ready to experience it. Being a part of the Q50 is no exception, and I’m honored to be involved with this new platform and engage with women in all stages of their Age of Possibility.”

QVC managed to toot its own horn by noing that it has programming — “Over 50 & Fabulous” and “Over 50 & Fabulous – The Aftershow” — aimd at this age group.

The Age of Possibility will kick off with a first-of-its-kind summit in Las Vegas on April 24, bringing together the Q50.

“The summit will usher in a series of localized Age of Possibility activations, with the brand making stops across the country to engage with QVC fans and women right in their communities,” the network said.”

It is also introducing a new Facebook Group, Over 50 & Fabulous!

JTV Pearl Maven Mark Brown Is Recovering From A Stroke

We’re not tying to be flip, but this news was almost as shocking as Princess Kate revealing she has cancer: JTV pearl guy Mark Brown had a stroke and is recovering.

Brown, the home shopping network’s pearl jewelry vendor, has not been on the air for awhile, which had us wondering what was up. We enjoy him. We always enjoy vendors who are so obviously passionate about their jewelry.

Then today on Facebook we saw that Brown posted a video explaining what had happened. You should watch it, but in a nutshell he said he suffered a stroke about a month again, and had to re-learn basic tasks like speaking and walking.

Brown says he’ll be back on-air.

“I’m not going to quit what I’m doing,” he said. “I love bringing our pearls to you. It’s not just a job. It’s a huge portion of my life that I refuse to give up.”

This hits close to home for us. Our brother-in-law recently suffered a mild stroke. He went to the ER twice complaining of numbness in his left arm. His blood pressure was soaring. Doctors finally determined it was a mild stroke and put him on blood thinners and blood-pressure medication.

But we had a much more horrific experience years ago with our mom. Just a few months after our dad passed away, our mom was hospitalized for dehydration. It was right before Easter, like this time of year.

We gave our mom an Easter card to fill our for our niece, and it was taking her forever. We said, “Come on Mama,” and she didn’t respond at all. We stood right in front of her face, and she looked right through us. It was as if she didn’t see us or hear us.

We looked at the card, and in the middle of a sentence her writing had become gibberish.

We felt like two cents. The reason she was taking so long with the card was that she was having a stroke right in front of us.

We can’t recall how many hours it took for her to finally respond and acknowledge us that day. But she could not speak correctly. It was aphasia, just like Bruce Willis has, where the person is trying to talk but the wrong words come out, they can’t formulate language.

Our mom went to a rehab center, where she would answer with nonsense — like saying “chicken” or “lettuce” — when you asked how she was. You’d ask her to pile blocks on top of the other, and she couldn’t do it.

What a horrible time for our family. We had just lost our dad and now didn’t know if our mother would ever be OK.

We can’t remember how long it took — which seems very strange now, that we can’t recalled — but Mama regained her faculties, was able to talk and function. Thank God!

Brown called JTV viewers his extended family. We feel the same about him. He has obviously made a lot of progress, as we can see from his video. Here’s praying and wishing him the best for the rest of his journey.

MacKenzie-Childs Lands on QVC From ShopHQ

We guess we were all wondering where upscale home goods provider MacKenzie-Childs would end up after leaving its long-time home, ShopHQ, the end of last year.

One our readers posted the news: QVC is running promos saying that MacKenzie-Child is joining its roster.

Here’s what’s on QVC.com right now.

https://www.qvc.com/catalog/search.html?keyword=McKenzie%20childs&qq=mh

Their stuff is gorgeous, bu we can’t afford $1,000 for an Easter rabbit statue or $150 for a pillow.

Qurate Replaces HSN’s President, Snippets From The 4Q Earnings Call

Dang, we buried the lede on Qurate Retail’s fourth-quarter results: HSN has a new president, Stacy Bowe, replacing Rob Muller.

The CEO of Qurate, the parent of both HSN and QV, announced the news last week that Bowe, who has been serving as the chief merchant at QVC U.S. since joining the company in 2022, is hopping over to lead HSN.

David Rawlinson described Bowe as “one of the driving forces behind the improvement at QVC, including rapidly recalibrating our buying program, improving our inventory levels and bringing freshness and newness to the assortment.”

He said that prior to QVC, Bowe was at G-III Apparel Group and Macy’s.

“I would like to thank Rob Muller who has distinguished 23 years of extraordinary contributions to the company including serving for the last two years as president of HSN,” Rawlinson said.

Thanks for nothin’, we’re sure Muller was thinking.

“In summary, our business reached an inflection point in the third quarter of 2023,” Rawlinson said. “We have made substantial progress in stabilizing revenue and growing cash flow and profitability. We look forward to continuing to drive improved results in 2024 while preparing the business for its future of multi-platform growth.”

Welcome to the hot seat, Stacy!

For the die-hard fans, or masochists, among you, here are snippers from the earnings call. Want to know how much Barefoot Dreams sold on Cyber Monday? It’s here.

And BTW, here is the entire transcript for the call.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/qurate-retail-inc-nasdaq-qrtea-154203339.html

Snippets:

In March, self-taught cake artist and social media influencer, Yolanda Gampp who has 4.5 million YouTube subscribers and 2.8 million Instagram followers will introduce a new bakeware line. Many other celebrities will join us this year and we look forward to sharing more on future calls. And finally, we continue to provide value to customers through compelling product values, exposure to their favorite host and celebrities, and importantly our engaging programming. Our programming is enhanced by destination and mass events, especially around the holiday season. We hosted a 49-hour nonstop holiday party across channels and platforms with fun holiday shopping and special pop-in personalities. 680,000 customers shop the weekend, including more than 40,000 new customers.

The event generated 81 million views across social platforms. It features several live streams, including holiday guides to get together with Jimmy Garth, holiday head-to-toe style with experts, high chocolate cocktails and holiday recipes in 30 minutes with Fabio Pavani. We have also appeared on other powerful platforms to fuel engagement. QVC host presented gift ideas on popular talk shows including The Drew Barrymore Show and the Tamron Hall Show to promote our Holiday Giftathon. We remain excited about the value proposition that makes QVC and HSN unique and we’ll continue leveraging this model as we expand across platforms.

We are pleased that QxH grew market share as top line performance largely outpaced discretionary retail for the second consecutive quarter. Throughout the year, we have maintained focus on obtaining new higher-quality inventory that would excite our customers and provide them with value. We reinvigorated our programming and honed the special relationship our customers have with Host, which led to continued high engagement, growing total linear minutes viewed 15% compared to the prior year.

Consistent with historical averages, QxH existing customers made up half of total customer count that generated 90% of 2023 sales. They purchased 31 items in 2023 and spent $1,600 on average. The strength of engagement is even more evident, and our best customers in QVC US, who are defined as purchasing at least 20 times a year. They were 17% of the count which generated 76% of the sales in 2023. They purchased, on average, 76 items in the year and increased their average spend 9% year-on-year to $3,900.

Rather than growing the file with expensive-to-obtain and hard-to-retain transient customers for now we are concentrating on stabilizing our customer file, retaining our best customers and returning to new customer growth year-over-year that will contribute to customer file growth over time. We believe this is the prudent and profitable path and gives us the stability we need to continue to deliver on Project Athens in 2024. We also believe it sets us up nicely for customer file growth in 2025. Now I would like to touch again while Qurate’s business model is differentiated across retail and the value we bring to customers, vendors and celebrities. Starting with vendors. Our platform continues to be very attractive to both new and existing vendors.

We move meaningful volume and provide a scaled platform to connect with customers on a personal level and share product stories. We had impressive sell-through rates in Q4 across a range of price points and in particular on higher end products where we were able to demonstrate compelling value for unique products. For example at QVC, we offered Fire Light lab-grown diamonds from two carats to nine carats ranging in price from $1,300 to $5,000. The entire collection was well received selling out across sizes and products including a sold-out non-carat tennis bracelet. We also sold $5.7 million of Ninja Woodfire of electric smoker and outdoor grill moving 19,000 units priced at $300 a piece. At HSN, we sold out of a day [indiscernible] with a price point in excess of $1,000 over Black Friday weekend.

In Home Décor, we sold $6 million of Barefoot Dreams luxury throw on Cyber Monday. In Beauty, we sold 40,000 units of an Elemis cream in one day and 114,000 units of [indiscernible] velocity gift set in two days. The scale of this platform is very difficult to replicate and attractive to existing and new vendors. We debut a new brand in tights, Sheertex selling $2.4 million in just a couple of hours. We introduced a new leather handbag and luggage brand Hawkins that sold $340,000 in 11 minutes.

QVC and HSN have always been a home for celebrities engaging personalities and entrepreneurs. We welcome many familiar and new faces in the fourth quarter with a great pipeline planned for 2024. At QVC Lawrence Zarian launched BEAUTIFUL, an exclusive fashion collection of dresses, outwear and accessories.

In connection with the launch we conducted a satellite media tour with a nationally syndicated segment on Extra. At HSN, we teamed up with legendary singer Dolly Parton for the presale of our debut rock album Rockstar. Iconic Singer Chaka Khan launched her own perfume. Singer Katherine McPhee debut her jewelry line Radiance by Absolute. Erin Andrews launched her Sportswear line. Wolfgang Puck celebrated his 25th year with HSN with a new cook wear line. During his time with HSN, he has generated $600 million in sales.

Numerous other celebrities have teamed up with us recently and our 2024 celebrities lineup is fantastic. In January, Scarlett Johansson debuted a new beauty line called the Outset. Actress Christina Ricci came on air as the new brand ambassador for Lancer Skincare.

QVC, HSN See Sales Slide 4% In the Fourth Quarter

Last week Qurate Retail Group, the parent of both QVC and HSN, reported that revenue for the two channels dropped 4% in the fourth quarter and 5% last year.

The two dominant home shopping networks are part of Qurate’s QxH division. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $2.16 billion.

Here’s what Qurate said in its press release about QVC and HSN:

QxH revenue declined in the fourth quarter and full year. Revenue declined in both periods primarily due to lower units shipped, which decreased 5% in the fourth quarter and 6% in the full year, as well as lower shipping and handling revenue and higher returns.

Units shipped in the fourth quarter were impacted by less inventory liquidation sales compared to the prior year. These factors were partially offset by a 3% increase in average selling price in both the fourth quarter and full year. QxH grew apparel and jewelry with declines in electronics and home in the fourth quarter. QxH reported declines in all categories for the full year.

Operating loss in the fourth quarter was primarily driven by a $326 million non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill. For the full year, operating income increased due to the $2.7 billion non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill and the HSN tradename recorded in the prior year.

For the fourth quarter and full year 2023, Adjusted OIBDA margin(4) increased mainly due to higher product margins, lower fulfillment (warehouse and freight) costs and favorable inventory obsolescence expense.

Product margins increased primarily due to mix shift to higher-margin products, fewer clearance items as a result of improved inventory health and initiatives to increase initial margin. Fulfillment favorability was driven by efficiencies from Project Athens initiatives, significantly lower detention and demurrage costs and improved freight rates from the new parcel carrier contract that took effect in July 2023. Inventory obsolescence declined due to an improved inventory assortment. These gains were partially offset by unfavorable administrative expenses in both periods, with expenses for the full year primarily related to outside services for Project Athens.

And here is what the top honcho had to say:

“2023 was a transformational year for Qurate Retail,” David Rawlinson, President and CEO of Qurate, said in a statement. “We executed better on multiple fronts including merchandising, pricing strategy and inventory management, and these efforts yielded significant, positive results in the operational health and financial performance of the business. We increased free cash flow generation, reduced substantial debt and optimized our portfolio with the divesture of Zulily, and in the fourth quarter, we grew Adjusted OIBDA by over 70% as reported. As we enter 2024, we expect to continue our momentum and drive improved results.”

Here is the slide presentation that Qurate had for its investors:

https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_efda8a953d44e23d2aaf22d86081bbd7/qurateretail/db/880/8068/earnings_presentation/QRTE+Q4-23+Earnings+Slides_v2.pdf

ShopHQ Offering Free Shipping: A Game Changer?

When we heard someone say that ShopHQ was no longer charging for shipping and handling, we couldnt believe it. We had to go to the home shopping network’s website to see for ourselves.

We don’t know if this is permanent, but we hope so. ShopHQ has had some of the most exorbitant fees for shipping on all the shopping channels.

It is soon to help ShopHQ’s top line — its sales, as they say — but we don’t know what impact it will have on its bottom line, its profits.

QVC and HSN are very stingy with any free shipping it offers, with JTV more generous.

While we’re on the topic of jewelry, a couple of disappointments regarding ShopHQ. We have purchased several of its “close-out” diamond and gold pieces, with mixed results. One was a lovey gold cross with nice clear diamond in the center.

The other was a tiny “Viking knot” diamond pendant with baguettes and a larger center stone. We loved the design, but the center diamond was so cloudy we ran to the post office to send it back.

Also, on two occasions we’ve bought diamond items only to see that a few days later ShopHQ was offering a 20% coupon. We called customer service, and there is no price adjustment at ShopHQ.

In two cases, we had to send back items for a refund and then reorder them with the coupon. Ridiculous. On that cross we told your about, the price difference was like $120. So even with the $12 or so shipping we paid to get it, and the maybe $30 we paid to send it back with insurance, it made sense for us to return it.

But our advice is to be very wary of those close-out jewelry pieces.

What Goes Around Comes Around: Charla Rines Back On ShopHQ

 Here the latest chapter in the musical-chair world of home shopping.

Charla Rines, who was a host on ShopHQ (or whatver it was called back then) for 16 years from 1994 to 2010 as a host, has rejoined the home shopping network.

We saw her pop up Sunday to surprise jewelry designer Sonia Biton on-air, and she is supposed to be on today working.

We always liked Charla. She was very edgy, in her looks and presentations, not the typical home shopping host.

One of our readers kindly told us that Charla had worked for other vendors after she left ShopHQ, and even managed a Cheesecake Factory eatery.

Has Jewelry Designer Dallas Prince Exited ShopHQ After 19 Years, And Gone To QVC?

We missed this during the busy holiday season: jewelry designer Dallas Prince has kicked off the new year with a collection on QVC. We’re not quite sure if that means she has totally exited ShopHQ.

Prince, who we seem to recall was on HSN for many years, in November last year on FB posted that she was about to celebrate her 19th anniversary on ShopHQ.

But we just noticed that a large number of her pieces are being sold on QVC.com, many of them featuring marcasite.

https://www.qvc.com/catalog/search.html?keyword=dallas+prince

But her collection is still being sold on ShopHQ.com.

https://www.shophq.com/search/?q=dallas%20prince%20jewelry

And about a week ago Prince said this year she will be selling her jewelry on TVSN in Australia and New Zealand.

Can you guys tell us what we missed?

QVC ‘Jewelry Love’ Day Was Pretty, Pretty Good

We admit it: We did some damage to our credit card on Friday during QVC’s jewelry love day. It didn’t help that we were off, taking a comp day after covering the National Retail Federation conference last weekend in Manhattan, and could watch much of the day.

We thought QVC did a good job of presenting baubles across categories — gold, silver, gemstones, diamonds, high price and low price.

Veteran QVC gold buyer David Markstein debuted his new line for the home shopping network, and we thought it was inventive and appealing. We ordered two of his items, one a 14K gold bracelet and a silver cross that is on waitlist.

Gold has gotten so expensive that frankly we really can’t afford it anymore. But we’ve been looking for two items in solid gold anyway: a link-type bracelet to layer and a small cross. We’re hoping that the bracelet we ordered from Markstein is substantial enough for us for the price.

We also ordered a small cross from Eterna Gold that was dimensional and had diamond-cutting, another item we plan to layer. We’ll see how that goes.

Finally, we ordered a half-a-carat Infinity diamond ring in silver, with round stones and baquettes (our favorite cut). BTW we really enjoy Michele Lau. We weren’t looking for a diamond ring, but this one looked really good for the price — a big look for the money. We hope we like it.

Jeff Moseley debuted his new jewelry line, Pure Tarzanite. They were gorgeous pieces, but well out of our price range. But we love seeing his passion for the stone, and wish him well with this venture.

So, it’s time to lock up our credit. And there goes that New Year’s resolution about taming our spending.

BTW, someone who reads this blog stopped by the NRF press room to say hello. He knew we were at the conference because of some posts we did on LinkedIn. He said he works for some vendors for both QVC and HSN.

We actually got in trouble for talking too loudly and had to cut our chat short!