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.

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.

JTV Counter Sues Bali Jewelry Designer Janyl Sherma, Alleges She Created Competing Home Shopping Network

JTV has fired back and denied charges made in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against it by Sarda jewelry and its designer Janyl Sherman. And in a countersuit, the network claims she created her own competing home shopping channel via social media.

“Sarda, Ms. Sherman, and JTV had a mutually beneficial business relationship which was quite lucrative for Sarda and Ms. Sherman<” JTV said in its 83-page complaint. “But the lucrative relationship they already had was still not enough. So Sarda and Ms. Sherman launched a multi-faceted scheme to take what they had built with JTV all for themselves.”

Those efforts included “underhanded efforts to discover and have access to JTV’s confidential customer information, breaching their contractual obligations concerning sales of Sarda’s products, actions that undercut JTV’s sales and promotional efforts, efforts that conflated Sarda and Ms. Sherman with JTV’s Artisan Collection of Bali brand, misuse of JTV’s trademarks with an intent to confuse JTV’s customers, misuse of JTV’s confidential information, and other intentional and willful actions that have significantly damaged JTV,” the suit alleges.

JTV said it “tired” of Sarda and Ms. Sherman’s behavior, and “asserted a set-off for losses that Sarda’s and Ms. Sherman’s actions have caused it.”

Then in response, the suit charges, “Sarda and Ms. Sherman aggressively asserted spurious breach of contract and intellectual property claims, which are contained in Sarda’s complaint that initiated this lawsuit.”

The lawsuit goes on to say that Sarda and Sherman “hatched a scheme to divert customers to themselves from JTV and the Artisan of Bali brand owned by JTV.”

Those efforts included “undercutting JTV’s sales efforts beginning at least early as 2019 and continuing through Black Friday 2022, Ms. Sherman’s creation (with Sarda) of her own home shopping network, Ms. Sherman’s other violations of (or bad faith attempts to circumvent) the VSA’s [vendor services agreement] and Guest Supplement Terms’ Exclusivity and/or Non-Compete provisions, and Ms. Sherman’s failures to avoid conflicts of interest and actions inconsistent with JTV’s brand, standards of conduct, and policies and procedures,” according to court filings.

As for Sarda’s copyright infringement allegation, JTV said, “Sarda’s copyrights in and to its designs at issue lack sufficient creativity, lack sufficient originality, and/or were not originally authored by Sarda, and thus are invalid, unenforceable, and not protectible.”

In its counterclaim against Sherman, JTV said its buyers first met her at the JCK trade show in 2013 and made a deal to buy some merchandise from her.

“At that time, Sarda was not a brand or vendor that JTV was familiar with, and Sarda’s business was focused on selling to boutiques and other independent jewelry stores,” the countersuit says. “Sarda had both a limited reach and limited presence in the jewelry industry and was looking to expand its sales.”

JTV said net sales under the Artisan Gem Collection of Bali brand grew steadily. The network’s payments to Sarda grew from just over $400,000 in 2014 to over $10 million in 2019.

“JTV is informed and believes that Sarda sold more of its products to JTV than to any of its other customers. Without JTV’s national footprint and sales platform, training and experience the network gave her, Sarda would have been unable to grow its business so much, so quickly,” according to the counterclaim.

JTV, Sarda and Sherman negotiated matters pertaining to product exclusivity and noncompetition.
“Because of the amount of product JTV was purchasing from Sarda, the sizeable investment it was making in promoting its brands, and the visibility Ms. Sherman was gaining, JTV asked for Sarda to agree that all designs of similar product would be exclusive to JTV,” the countersuit say. “Sarda attempted to limit this provision to ‘exact’ designs of the products it sold to JTV. JTV objected to this change, and Sarda agreed to remove it.”

Things really went sour in April 2020, when Sherman launched “Sarda’s Amazon store, through which they sold products that were identical and/or substantially similar to those JTV has purchased from Sarda and that JTV was selling under the Artisan Collection of Bali brand, all discounted to prices below JTV’s prices,” according to the countersuit.

This was done “to confuse JTV’s customers by creating the illusion that Sarda and Artisan Collection of Bali were either one in the same or were related to Sarda or Ms. Sherman … Through this effort, they hoped to gain access to JTV’s customers.”

We admit, it always confused us.

Sherman was also selling her Bali jewelry on a Sarda website she launched, which also didn’t sit well with the JTV honchos in Knoxville.

Sherman’s actions ended up undercutting her sales on JTV, according to the countersuit.
“Indeed, Ms. Sherman’s Black Friday 2022 appearances at JTV was her worst in several years,” it says. “More particularly, and compared to Black Friday 2021, margin on the Artisan of Bali brand was down 20% and net revenue per broadcast minute dropped over 39%. Additionally, the Artisan of Bali brand was 28% under its ‘benchmark,’ a metric JTV uses to measure the productivity of products, and which tracks performance over the preceding 12 months. That was the worst such comparison of any product line shown on Black Friday.”

The countersuit alleges that through their use of social media, Sherman and Sarda created their own home shopping network” to sell their Bali jewelry that can be “accessed through Smart TVs and internet-connected televisions, in addition to desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices, which are the same methods/devices through which other home shopping networks make their content available.”
This included doing live broadcasts on YouTube as well as Facebook.

Last December, JTV told Sherman it wasn’t renewing its contract with her.

JTV Claims Janyl Sherman’s Sarda Copyright Infringement Suit Is ‘Without Merit’

We blogged yesterday about Sarda, the company of Bali jewelry designer Janyl Sherman, filing a lawsuit accusing JTV of copyright infringement.

Sherman had been on the home shopping network for years before abrupty exiting earlier this year.

JTV sent us a response to the litigation today.

“We were saddened to see that Sarda filed a lawsuit against us last week. The lawsuit is without merit. As our longstanding customers know, we developed and own the Artisan of Bali brand and invested significantly to make this line of jewelry available to our customers. Bali is full of artisans and designers that make wonderful jewelry, and we enjoy bringing new creations to our customers,” the network said.

“There are always two sides to every story,” JTV continued. “In the response we’ll file with the court in the near future, we’ll detail the ways that both Sarda and Janyl Sherman violated their agreements with JTV and how their actions have caused significant damage to our company.”

Janyl Sherman’s Sarda Sues JTV For Alleged Copyright Infringement

The break-up of Janyl Sherman, the designer behind the Artisan of Bali jewelry line, and JTV has gotten contentious.

Sherman’s company, Sarda, last Friday filed suit against the home shopping network charging it with copyright infringement. The complaint was filed in the Eastern District Court in Tennessee in Knoxville. Documents also claim that JTV owes Sarda $1.3 million.

After many years as a JTV vendor Sherman and JTV abruptly parted ways. When we blogged about it in February, the administrator of Sherman’s Facebook page came after us. We couldn’t figure it out. It was a pretty innocent blog, just stating the facts as we knew them. Vendors and shopping channels go different ways all the time. No biggie usually. But it was a big deal to us because Sherman had been on JTV so long.

There were many documents filed for the copyright case, and Sherman’s beef with JTV dates back to at least January. At the time, Sarda’s attorney sent JTV a cease-and-desist letter, charging that the network was unlawfully reproducing and selling jewelry that infringed, knocked off, the company’s Bali designs. They were described as “counterfeit/look-alike styles” in legal papers.

“We are aware, for example, of a number of JTV shows advertising the Bella Luce band and other brands in which the host explicitly compared JTV’s designs to those owned by Sarda,” the letter says.

“In a few instances, the JTV show host admits that the pieces were intentionally designed to reproduce or create derivatives of Sarda’s propriety designs,” the letter says. “This behavior is completely unacceptable and a clear violation of Sarda’s rights. Unfortunately, this appears to be the way JTV prefers to do business: JTV has run afoul of Sarda’s intellectual property rights in the past.”

There are also numerous photos of JTV jewelry, including Bella Luce pieces, that look remarkably like Sherman’s Bali pieces when placed side by side. Just say-in.

That letter was dated Jan. 11, but we guess the issue wasn’t resolved because now Sarda is suing.
The legal papers include copies of Sherman’s contract with JTV, like her vendor services agreement. That includes how many hours Sherman had to appear on-air and how many hours she had to be allowed between appearances.

JTV declined to comment on Wednesday but said it would have a statement later this week.

As an aside, we were amused by the appearance standards for JTV guests.

They are told to wear solid colors; avoid large prints; avoid wearing black, white and vibrant intense greens; no sleeveless tops or dresses unless with a sweater or jacket; and avoid “shapeless clothing … as it can make a person look larger.”

As for hands, “a manicure is strongly recommended” and “French, natural French and clear polish show bet on-air.”

Home Shopping Veteran Libby Floyd Starts Line For Park Lane Jewelry

Home shopping veteran, as a host and brand ambassador, Libby Floyd is striking out on her own.

She is partnering with Park Lane jewelry, which she described to us as “a family owned business for over 65 years with beautiful jewelry and incredible customer incentives.”

Floyd said she will be doing weekly shows on her website, and of course you will be able to buy items there 24/7. And we just saw she is using the name Elizabeth Floyd.

We missed the launch of her first live jewelry show since we work like slaves for our day job.

Here is one of the links she sent us: myparklane.com/libbyfloyd.

Or find her on Facebook.

We always thought she was a class act so check it out. She did stints on ShopHQ and JTV previously.

Longtime QVC Vendor Judith Ripka Moving Over To JTV

The home shopping world has been full of surprises the past few days and here’s the latest one: one-time high-end jewelry designer and veteran QVC vendor Judith Ripka is jumping over to JTV.

The news was reported last week on Ripka’ Facebook page, although weirdly enough the deal was formally announced back in April in a press release from the owner of Ripka’s firm, Xcel Brands.

The FB post said, “We are incrediby pround to announce that Judith Ripka signatue jewelry is coming to JTV this fall.”

https://www.facebook.com/JudithRipka/videos/759091459332032

There was also a link to early access to Ripka’s new JTV collection, which incorporates the network’s Bella Luce diamond simulant. https://bit.ly/44vMzwx 

When Ripka came to QVC decades ago her pieces incorporated real gemstones and were gorgeous. We bought some, but fell out of love with the line when she started using QVC’s fake diamonds, Diamonique, in her pieces.

Most receently, Ripka was not repping the brand on-air, her daughter-in-law was, we believe.

Any way, here the press release that was issued earlier this year. As you will see, Xcel owns a number of brands that are sold on QVC.

Press release:

JTV to Sell Judith Ripka Jewelry Through Its Live TV Broadcasts and on JTV.com

NEW YORK, April 14, 2023–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Xcel Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: XELB), a media and consumer products company with billions of dollars in retail sales through livestream shopping, and JTV®, the national jewelry retailer and broadcast network, today announced a new licensing agreement that will see Judith Ripka fine jewelry sold on JTV.com beginning in June and through the network’s live TV broadcasts beginning in August.

“We’re excited to launch this partnership,” said Robert W. D’Loren, Chairman and CEO of Xcel Brands. “The JTV team’s commitment to jewelry, digital retail and live broadcasting, coupled with their superior manufacturing expertise, make them an ideal licensing partner. We have committed to significant on-air time with the network, and we’re confident this will be a highly successful collaboration.”

Founded in 1993, JTV is one of the top jewelry companies in the US, with one of the largest assortments of jewelry, gemstones and jewelry-making products available from a single-source retailer. JTV serves consumers through live broadcasts 24 hours a day from six high-definition studios to millions of homes. The company also conducts online business through its e-commerce site, mobile apps, streaming devices and social media platforms.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Xcel and bring this iconic brand to our audience through our e-commerce site and live broadcasts,” said Tim Matthews, CEO and President of JTV. “We believe our customers will love Judith Ripka jewelry, and look forward to giving them ample opportunities to learn about and purchase the brand.”

Under the new agreement, JTV will also license the Judith Ripka e-commerce platform, JudithRipka.com. The partnership is the latest step in Xcel Brands’ evolution as it builds a live-selling ecosystem supported by authentic, trusted brand representatives and sellers. The company continues to strategically invest in livestreaming technology platforms and partnerships that enable it to connect its brands directly with consumers.

Xcel Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: XELB) is a media and consumer products company engaged in the design, production, marketing, livestreaming, wholesale distribution and direct-to-consumer sales of branded apparel, footwear, accessories, fine jewelry, home goods and other consumer products, and the acquisition of dynamic consumer lifestyle brands.

Xcel was founded in 2011 with a vision to reimagine shopping, entertainment and social media as one thing. Xcel owns the Judith Ripka, Halston, LOGO by Lori Goldstein, and C. Wonder brands and a minority stake in the Isaac Mizrahi brand. It also owns and manages the Longaberger brand through its controlling interest in Longaberger Licensing LLC. Xcel is pioneering a true omni-channel sales strategy that includes the promotion and sale of products under its brands through interactive television, digital livestream shopping, brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce channels. The company’s brands have generated in excess of $3 billion in retail sales via livestreaming in interactive television and digital channels alone.

Headquartered in New York City, Xcel Brands is led by an executive team with significant livestreaming, production, merchandising, design, marketing, retailing and licensing experience and has a proven track record of success in elevating branded consumer products companies. With an experienced team of professionals focused on design, production and digital marketing, Xcel maintains control of product quality and promotion across all of its product categories and distribution channels. Xcel differentiates by design. http://www.xcelbrands.com

Give JTV Host Nikki Coggins (Rouleau) A Break For Taking A Break

A week or so ago we were surprised to hear the tail-end of a converation JTV host Nikki Coggins — or Nikki Rouleau on the channels website — had with viewers, describing how she was going to cut down some of her hosting hours at the home shopping channel.

To be honest, we shouldn’t have been surprised to hear it. We know she has health issues and she has not been looking her best on-air, not to be mean. And everytime we watch the network she seems to be on, so we figured it was fair for her to slow down a bit. Colleen Lopez did it on HSN.

Well, we saw a very long Facebook post by Nikki yesterday and it seems like someone is giving her a hard time. She posted a photo of herself as a teen, and said she was 14 when she started working at a TV station. She is 50 now.

“Hear me out,” Nikki wrote. “I just got home from work before midnight on a Friday night. I am off work this weekend. I cried the whole way home.”

She said she has worked nights and weekends full time for 35 years. Yikes!

At the same time, Nikki said she was raising two kids as a single mom. And due to her career Nikki lamented all the events she had to miss because of her work schedule, like wedding showers, birthday parties, shopping days with friends, etc. Yet Nikki said she was judged for all that.

So some asshats were apparently complaining.

In addition, Nikki said she has been making a 140-mile round-trip for 30 years to get to her job! Now that’s a commute.

“I’m not tooting any horns here,” she wrote.

“I’m just saying please don’t be as fast to judge things people are dealing with in their lives. I have carried a lot on my shoulders. You don’t know the sacrifices I made. I’ve paid my dues. I still love my job. I love my customers and what I do. I am thankful for my company. And I always look forward to my shows!! But it’s time to try to figure out how to love me a little too. I haven’t been very good at that part. And it has cost me a lot. So starting this weekend, though it may not be a big deal to some people…I am off on weekends. For the first time in my life basically…which I have prayed and prayed and prayed for. I cried and praised God the whole way home.”

You go girl! We’ll miss you on weekends. But live your life.

QVC Alum Albany Irvin Lands At JTV

We saw promos with Albany Irvin heralding her arrival at JTV last week, and decided to take a peek.

Irvin, a veteran of QVC, was on JTV on Monday night hosting with Jennifer Miller. They actually were showing off some very nice tanzanite.

We think she was mostly on QVC during the day, so we didn’t see her very often. She seems like a solid host.

We’ll see how she fits in with the new crew.

Shawn Diddy came on as a host a number of months ago, so it looks like JTV is staffing up.

JTV Gains Carriage On 64 Scripps TV Stations, Reaching 15 Million More Homes

JTV got some good news that we keep hearing about in on-air promos.

The home shopping network is now being offered by 64 TV stations owned by E.W. Scripps Co., which means it will be reaching 15 million more households who don’t have cable or satellite service.

JTV said that with the launch it will “now be available free, ‘over-the-air’ (OTA) on channels adjacent to Scripps’ networks and other home shopping networks.”

The launch includes major markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, San Francisco and more.

“Since JTV’s inception 29 years ago, we have always strived to offer an incomparable shopping experience to our growing customer base,” Burt Bagley, JTV senior vice president of content distribution, said in a statement. “We’re excited to expand the JTV family by bringing our programming to a top provider such as Scripps. Now more than ever before, jewelry lovers will be able to view educational and entertaining JTV programming when and where they want.”

The network, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, is now also offered in Canada.

Did we hear the promo say that JTV now reaches more than 90 million homes?