Pop Quiz: What’s A ‘Jegging’? Well, HSN’s Diane Gilman Sold A Record 100,000 Of Them Saturday

HSN sold more than 100,000 of these Jeggings

It looks like jean designer Diane Gilman hit a landmark on HSN with her Today’s Special, which was a pair of DG Stretch Denim “Jeggings” for $25. She sold more than 100,000 pairs of them, selling out in the early afternoon.

What the hell are those, you ask? We’d never heard the term, but we were in Target tonight and what did one of its signs say: Jeggings. They are a combination of a jean and a legging. They have the appearance of a jean, with false pockets and denim, but are made of very stretchy material and have an elastic waist.

Gilman, whose red hair looked tame and beautiful this visit (unlike our’s Saturday) produces jeans for “real women,” as she often says, with a lot of stretch in the waist. During one of her shows Saturday it was said that her jeans are the biggest jean sellers on HSN, if not the world.

We have several pairs of her jeans, and we love them. We’ve always dreaded trying to find jeans that fit right. It was tortuous. We remember one year when we vowed to find a great-fitting pair of jeans, and at that time we would have paid several hundred dollars for them. We tried on jeans everywhere — from Macy’s to Neiman Marcus — dozens of them — and couldn’t find any we liked.

Now we’re swearing by Gilman’s jeans and, believe it or not, Target’s, where 25 bucks can get you a really sharp pair.

ShopNBC Can’t Afford Charla Rines, But It’s Paying The New President $400,000 A Year

ShopNBC's $400,000 man

ShopNBC is paying its new president, QVC and Macy’s veteran Bob Ayd, a base salary of $400,000, according to a filing with federal regulators Wednesday.

After the market closed, ShopNBC stealthily filed an 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Ayd’s compensation package. The 61-year-old, named the network’s president Feb. 1, will receive an annual base salary of $400,000, according to the filing.

He also “will have a fiscal year 2010 incentive opportunity to earn up to 65 percent of his annual base salary.” If we can translate that into English, we think he can get up to 65 percent of his salary, or $260,000 on top of his annual wages, as a bonus if he hits his numbers. ShopNBC is also relocating Ayd.

As part of the deal, ShopNBC granted Ayd options to purchase 350,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the date of grant — or $3.99 on Feb. 1 — 280,000 of which vest over three years and 70,000 of which vest upon his relocation to Minnesota.

Canned host Charla Rines

This all may not sit well with fans of veteran ShopNBC host Charla Rines, who was let go by the network in January. Presumably, as a old-timer at ShopNBC, Rines was making a good salary, which may have helped pave the way for her demise. Or her age could have done her in. Either way, many ShopNBC viewers are not happy, according to the posts on our blog on her exit.

Ayd signed a non-compete agreement, and will receive an amount equal to his base salary, namely $400,000, if he is terminated without cause during his first year of employment.

Ayd served as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at QVC domestic from 2006 to 2008. He also served as senior vice president of design Ddvelopment & global sourcing and brand development from 2005 to 2006, and as senior vice president of jewelry andfFashion from 2000 to 2004.

Ayd began his career at Macy’s in 1975 as a buyer of handbags, bodywear and footwear, launching a 20-year tenure that included promotion to numerous executive leadership positions, culminating with senior vice president in women’s sportswear. Ayd was an independent consultant from 2008 to 2009.

When Ayd was named ShopNBC president, CEO Keith Stewart voluntarily relinquished his title as president, while continuing as CEO and a director. Ayd reports to Stewart.

QVC Racks Up Record $32 Million In Black Friday Sales, But What Does Poor 28-Hour Host Dave James Get?

We told you a QVC press release on Black Friday would be forthcoming, and here it is, released Saturday.

QVC enjoyed its biggest Black Friday ever, ringing up more than $32 million in orders – a 60 percent increase over last year’s Black Friday sales. More than 765,000 units were ordered in a 24-hour period, according to the home shopping network.

QVC mounted the most aggressive Black Friday event in its 23-year history. The network’s holiday weekend kicked off early, Thanksgiving evening, with “The New Black Friday,” a special programming event meant to keep shoppers at home rather than visiting their local malls.

QVC offered three Today’s Special Value offers (items presented at exceptionally low prices, for a specific period of time) instead of the usual one, and had specially priced deals in every hour of programming.

QVC CEO and president Mike George

“Our merchandising team worked incredibly hard to find the most special gift-giving ideas on the market and price them competitively,” QVC president and CEO Mike George said in a canned statement. “And, as always, the entire QVC organization delivered a fun, stress-free shopping experience for our customers. Given the successful results – our largest Black Friday in our company’s 23-year history – it’s clear that their hard work paid off,”

Said George, “We’re thrilled with the overwhelming response we received from our customers and will continue to strive to be their preferred destination for holiday shopping.”

Largely contributing to QVC’s Black Friday success was the Sylvania Digital Camcorder with a 2” LCD Color Display, one of the three Today’s Special Value offers, selling out of more than 200,000 units.

Additional top sellers from the day included the Sharper Image Entertainment Projector, the Playhut Travel Lounger with Removable Slumber Bag and Storage Tote, the Nintendo Wii Gaming System with Accessory Case and Games and the Olympus 12 MP, 5x Optical Zoom Camera.

QVC.com also played an integral role, contributing more than 40 percent of the day’s sales.

The press release made no mention of poor host Dave James, who stayed live for 28 hours straight — on the air and via Webcast — for the Black Friday event.

Give the poor man credit for his contribution to the day’s blockbuster sales, CEO George! How about combat pay for James?