What The Hell Is Going On With ShopHQ And Michael Valitutti?

What the heck? Were jewelry vendor Michael Valitutti of Gems En Vogue and ShopHQ at war?

Someone a week or so ago had tagged us to say all of Valitutti’s items were gone from ShopHQ’s website. We’ve been nuts traveling to Las Vegas and working a million hours and were too busy to follow up. Well, it looks like there was indeed a brouhaha.

There are numerous posts on Valitutti’s Facebook page asking why the items they had ordered from his line on the home shopping network were not being shipped.

And then there were many posts like this: “What’s going on at ShopHQ? Noticed most of your items are gone and there are no customization instructions.”

And this: “You really should give us a little update about what is going on with you and SHQ- many of us are LONG time customers and we would like to know status of not only your item availability but why we’ve had problems receiving items ordered this month.”

Valitutti finally addressed the issue, kinda, in a lengthy FB post.

“Hi fans at ShopHQ

I know that many of you have numerous unanswered questions about Gems en Vogue and this is my answer:

Firstly, allow me to apologize for my silence. I did not wish to embarrass certain parties (not Gems en Vogue, myself or this company) so I thought it best to keep silent until matters were resolved.

Secondly, I’m sorry for the delay in shipping your orders. For the record, they have been packaged and ready to ship for a long time but have been delayed for reasons I cannot comment on social media (it was not the fault of our company, Gems en Vogue or myself). They are being shipped now however.

Thirdly, I anticipate Gems en Vogue items will soon be reposted and available on ShopHQ.com as before. I expect this within a week or so, though truthfully I do not have an exact date. I also have full faith that my in studio visits will resume as before however I do not have an exact time and date as now but expect it it will be sometime in June.

Thank you all for your loyalty and faith in our collection and I promise to continue this journey for many years to come.”

WOW!!!!!!

We don’t have the inside scoop on the issue here. But it is no secret that ShopHQ has financial problems and is cash poor. Did someone here fail to pay the other party for goods. Don’t know.

But this is a matter that doesn’t make ShopHQ look very good. And it is clear here that Valitutti is saying this mess was not his fault.

Former QVC Host Lisa Mason Finds Love Again

Well, we’re glad to hear someone has found true love.

We were delighted to read a Facebook post today by former QVC host Lisa Mason. She left as a host several years ago when her beloved husband Gino was battling brain cancer.

He tragically passed away, and needless to say Lisa was devastated.

We follow her on Facebook, and in the wake of her loss she seemed to be thriving in NYC. She got a pair of cute dogs, and even did some Diamonique jewelry for QVC, as we recall.

Well, Lisa said two years ago today she met a guy named Scott, and she has found love again. He sounds great. She wants to marry him. We’re happy for her and jelly at the same time!

“Scott is a man of great patience and character,” Lisa said on Facebook. “A hardworking, loyal man who loves the same things I love. God, family, country … A man who my parents love. He is quiet, introspective and extremely intelligent.”

And here’s the kicker that may bring tears to your eyes.

“I never thought I would find love again,” she wrote. “But God showed me grace and kindness and sent Scott to me to piece my heart back together … Please don’t ever give up on love!!! When you least expect it…”

Good for her. She had so much heartbreak with Gino. This is wonderful to hear.

Lisa, does Scott have a single brother?

QVC, HSN Revenue Drops 5% In First Quarter, To $1.6 Billion

Qurate Retail, the parent of QVC and HSN, last week reported that revenue for the two home shopping channels dipped 5% in the first quarter.

Sales for QxH, the two networks combined, were $1.6 billion in the quarter, compared with $1.68 billion in the same year-ago period.

“QxH revenue declined primarily due to a 6% decrease in units shipped, reflecting fewer customers and weakened consumer sentiment as well as a decrease in shipping and handling revenue primarily at HSN,” Qurate said. “This was partially offset by a 2% increase in average selling price driven by price increases and an elevated product assortment particularly at QVC US. QxH reported sales declines across all categories, with the exception of apparel, which was essentially flat.”

Operating income increased primarily due to comparisons against the $80 million write-down of inventory at the Rocky Mount fulfillment center in the first quarter of 2022 as a result of the December 2021 fire.

“In the first quarter, QxH administrative expense rose mainly due to the payment of certain costs related to Project Athens, sales deleverage and modest investment in our livestreaming businesses,” the company said.

“Fulfillment pressure was attributed to increased freight, wages and fulfillment center rent, partially offset by improved pack factor and lower detention and demurrage charges. Product margins declined due to less shipping and handling revenue, partially offset by higher initial margins. These adjusted OIBDA margin pressures were partially offset by lower inventory obsolescence benefiting from reduced inventory levels, a reduction in marketing spend and lower bad debt expense.”

And finally, Qurate casually referred to the hundreds of layoffs it did during the quarter, which included pink-slipping several popular veteran hosts on QVC and HSN.

“QxH implemented a workforce reduction in March 2023, which is expected to generate approximately $60 million of run-rate annual savings, of which $50 million is expected to benefit 2023,” Qurate said.

The parent company also reported it had received $55 million of insurance proceeds in the quarter related to the fire that destroyed its Rocky Mount, North Caorlina, fulfillment center — and killed a worker. So far Qurate has collected $435 million received to-date, and additional proceeds are expected through business-interruption claims.

Here are all the details in a slide presentation.

Click to access Slides+Q1-23+Draft_v4.pdf

Slides

Here’s what the head honcho had to say about it all:

“In the first quarter, we saw meaningful improvement in revenue trends at our largest businesses, QVC US & QVC International, while performance remained soft at HSN, Cornerstone and Zulily,” David Rawlinson, President and CEO of Qurate Retail, said in a statement.

“Our customer file continues to be pressured and while we have multiple efforts underway to re-activate customer groups, we expect the impact of these initiatives to take several quarters,” he said. “Against this backdrop, we are intensely focused on factors in our control. We are on track with Project Athens and have taken significant cost actions with more underway.

We successfully managed towards higher average selling prices through price increases and an elevated merchandise strategy leveraging the improved freshness of our product assortment. In addition, we enhanced programming and improved the performance of our daily specials by returning the urgency of a 24-hour sale.”

He added, “Our turnaround is underway and we expect to see material improvement in our profitability in the back half of this year. We continue to have strong liquidity and believe our capital structure has the runway to get us through this transition.”