QVC Airs Reruns On Gem Day

As far as we know, Evine pioneered rerunning its prime-time programming in the overnight hours, the wee hours of the morning. That was a switch, since it’s a home shopping tradition to broadcast live 24/7.

Maybe we’ve just missed it before, but early Thursday morning for the first time — at least that we’ve ever seen — QVC reran host Jane Treacy and gem expert Peyton Kelley’s introduction to the TSV. It is Gem Day at QVC.

Anticipating a snow day, we were up watching QVC at 3 a.m. or so when we saw a presentation on a rainbow-colored sapphire bracelet that sounded familiar.

It was familiar because we had seen it shortly after midnight.

On-screen QVC said that the programming had been previously recorded. We didn’t stay up long enough to see how many hours of the earlier programming, the “Gem Day Grand Opening,” was rebroadcast.

What gives?

Evine To Debut Weekly Beauty Program

Evine is ramping up its efforts to cash in on the very lucrative beauty biz on home shopping.

The No. 3 home shopping channel announced on Monday that it will be doing a weekly beauty program, which is is what HSN does on Thursday nights with its “Beauty Report” and QVC does on Friday nights. Evine’s effort will air on Wednesdays.

Here’s the press release:

Evine to Premiere “Evine Beauty Experience”

Debuting February 8, the weekly program will support the company’s fast-growing beauty business, which has seen significant growth over the past three years

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Evine Live Inc. (“Evine”) (NASDAQ:EVLV), a multiplatform video commerce company (evine.com), today announced that it will premiere “Evine Beauty Experience,” a new weekly program created to support Evine’s fast-growing beauty business, which has seen significant growth over the past three years. The show will debut Wednesday, February 8 and become a destination for Evine’s beauty community and a place for launching new products and technologies.

“‘Evine Beauty Experience’ is an opportunity for customers to be at the forefront of the beauty industry…to experience what industry-insiders get to experience every day: being the first to discover the ‘next big thing,’” said Teresa Harris, Vice President of Beauty at Evine. “It’s an amazing way to build a sense of community by engaging our customers with a blend of entertainment and education, along with an exciting lineup of trend-driven products and technologies. Not only does it fill a need of our viewers, but ‘Evine Beauty Experience’ will also serve as an important part of our growing beauty business by giving us an outlet to launch new products and build brands. I can’t wait for our customers to ‘experience’ the future of beauty.”

“Evine is quickly becoming a destination for beauty brands looking to reach a new audience and tell their brand story,” said Bob Rosenblatt, Chief Executive Officer at Evine. “Beyond just being a destination, we’ve earned a reputation as being a retailer that not only invests in building brands, but provides a video commerce platform to bring their story to life in a way that traditional retail can’t. As a result, we’ve experienced significant growth in our beauty category over the past few years. I’m immensely proud of our ability to bring to our customers some of the most innovative and exciting brands in the market – new products and technologies they can’t find anywhere else.”

Premiering Wednesday, February 8, “Evine Beauty Experience” will air every Wednesday at 8pm ET and Thursday at 11am ET and feature a variety of cutting-edge products from both well-known and smaller, independent brands. Setting itself apart from other beauty shows on Evine, “Evine Beauty Experience” will have the same hosts each week, something Harris says is key to building trust and rapport with customers.

“Heather Hall and Erin Newburg are more than just hosts…they’re on the front-lines with our buyers selecting the product we bring to Evine. When customers shop ‘Evine Beauty Experience,’ they’re not only getting access to the latest beauty trends, but they’re getting advice and information from a trusted authority and friend,” continued Harris.

Leveraging all of Evine’s video commerce platforms, the show will include social engagement elements to build community and allow customers the chance to ask questions directly to on-air talent. “Evine Beauty Experience” will also utilize Instagram Live to provide additional off-air content for fans, including live roundtable discussions with industry experts.

QVC’s Peter Thomas Roth And The Diamond Lawsuit

QVC vendor and skin care king Peter Thomas Roth is in the news again, this time regarding a court battle over his estranged wife’s $500,000 15-carat diamond. That’s a lot of jars of eye cream!

The New York Post reported that Roth is in the middle of a bitter divorce battle with his soon-to-be-ex-wife Noreen, even though they are still both living in the same Manhattan townhouse. How civilized.

http://nypost.com/2017/02/05/skin-care-mogul-in-divorce-battle-wants-moms-500k-ring-back/

According to the Post, Roth’s 94-year-old mom Carole has sued Noreen to reclaim what she alleges is her pricey pear-shaped diamond, which she had worn in a ring for 30 years.

It seems that when Roth and Noreen got married in 1996, the bride sported a pair of diamond earrings that were made out of a diamond that Noreen had already owned and one that Roth’s mama Carole had, the Post said.

Noreen accused Roth of using his mother to try to get at his assets, including the $500,000 diamond, a charge that the skin care titan denies.

By the way, Roth last made the gossip columns when he started dating Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, Brooke Mueller. But that romance ended after an incident where Mueller apparently had some kind of breakdown and had to be sent to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

We lead such a dull life compared to these folks.

Buyer Beware: QVC’s $70 Himalayan Salt Lamps

QVC has a lot of chutzpah.

The No. 1 home shopping network has started to sell Himalayan salt lamps, one of our favorite New-Agey items. We have three, and have given many of as gifts.

QVC is charging $70 for a 11-inch lamp.

http://www.qvc.com/11%22-Himalayan-Salt-Lamp.product.H291004.html?sc=PRODFEED

News to consumers: You can pick up small ones for $16 and enormous ones for $25 to $29 in outlets like TJ Maxx and Home Goods.

What the hell, QVC?

Did Designer Mizrahi Diss QVC ‘Sh-t’?

Noted fashion designer and QVC vendor Isaac Mizrahi, who is also launching a cabaret act, made some interesting comments about the No. 1 home shopping network in a story in the New York Post Friday.

Mizrahi was interviewed about his stint, starting next week, singing at the Cafe Carlyle in Manhattan.

http://nypost.com/2017/01/26/how-liza-minnelli-helped-isaac-mizrahi-win-the-war-on-stage-fright/

The curly-headed designer recalls imitating Barbra Streisand as a little kid, and talks about the advice that Liza Minnelli gave him to allay his stage fright when he sings.

But what caught our eye in the Post’s Q&A was this exchange:

Post: I understand your act also involves re-gifting. What are you giving away?

Mizrahi: I go to a lot of gala parties, and you get bags of stuff you don’t need, and it just collects. There’s [also] stuff that didn’t sell too well on QVC, like Christmas ornaments. How do you get your audience to like you? Give them s - - t!

So will Mizrahi be “gifting” his audiences at the Carlyle with leftover QVC items, lie ornaments? And are they the “sh-t” he refers to?

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

QVC’s Parent To Release Fourth-Quarter Results Feb. 28

QVC’s parent company, Liberty Interactive Corp., will post its fourth-quarter earnings Feb. 28, John Malone’s company said Friday.

Greg Maffei, Liberty’s president and CEO, twill host a conference call to discuss results at noon.

Following prepared remarks, the company will host a brief Q&A session during which management will accept questions regarding both Liberty and Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings.

During the call, Maffei may discuss the financial performance and outlook of both companies, as well as other forward-looking matters.

Please call ReadyTalk at (844) 307-2219 or (678) 509-7635 at least 10 minutes prior to the call. Callers will need to be on a touch-tone telephone to ask questions. The conference administrator will provide instructions on how to use the polling feature.

In addition, the fourth-quarter earnings conference call will be broadcast live via the internet. All interested participants should visit the Liberty Interactive website at http://www.libertyinteractive.com/events to register for the webcast.

Links to the press release and replays of the call will also be available on the rporation website. The conference call and related materials will be archived on the site for one year.

QVC Brings Back California Gold Rush

Kudos to QVC for bringing back its 24-hour California Gold Rush even after an absence of three years. We are promised more than 200 new designs.

When gold prices soared, it put the kibosh on the QVC mainstay for a few years.

And vendor Imperial Gold, which hasn’t been on the home shopping network for seven years, has returned for the gold bonanza.

QVC Finally Gives Refund To Widower

One of our beloved readers tipped us off to this tale of QVC, which apparently was not going to give a refund to a widower whose dying wife had purchased a boatload of merchandise from the home shopping network.

That changed when a local TV news consumer watchdog, at WHTM, called QVC to task.

http://abc27.com/2017/01/17/in-your-corner-team-helps-man-win-refund-battle-after-tragedy/

The story involves Tom Carbaugh, who abruptly lost his wife of 46 years, Gretchen, to lung cancer. It was shocking, because Gretchen had been fighting a spinal infection, and was being treated for it when doctors discovered her cancer.

After she died, Carbaugh found out that Gretchen had ordered many items from QVC, and that the unopened packages were strewn about their home, according to ABC.com.

A lot of this merchandise had been purchased more than 30 days prior, outside of QVC’s return policy and deadline.

Initially a QVC sales rep told Carbaugh to return the items any way, but to explain in writing why he was returning them, that his wife had died suddenly.

But unfortunately, QVC sent the stuff back to him and he got the run-around when he called.

That prompted Carbaugh to contact “Your Corner” investigative reporter Kendra Nichols, who emailed QVC to find out why the home shopping network had reneged on its promise to the widower.

QVC finally stepped up. It apologized to Carbaugh, told him to keep the merchandise and gave him a $1,500 refund. He told the TV station that he will donate the items to a local non-profit.

So the home shopping eventually did the right thing, but only after some prompting.

Melania Trump’s Bio Trimmed To Cut QVC Reference

Oy, can you believe QVC was part of a recent Trump brouhaha? It all had to do with First Lady Melania Trump’s bio on WhiteHouse.gov.

We previously blogged that Mrs. Trump had done a fashion jewelry and watch collection for the home shopping network, but that was a number of years ago.

The initial version of her online bio mentioned her QVC line, according to CNN.com. That raised some eyebrows.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/melania-trump-white-house-biography/index.html

So the bio was later edited “out of an abundance of caution” that the reference to Melania’s QVC wares could be interpreted as an endorsement, a Trump mouthpiece told CNN.

The bio had said that “in April 2010, Melania Trump launched her own jewelry collection, ‘Melania Timepieces & Jewelry’ on QVC.”

QVC doesn’t sell items from the collection any more.

Dave King’s Wedding, Daniel Green Back, Gorga Out In Montclair

A bit of brief home shopping catch-up, since we’re under the weather and have to get some rest.

Former QVC host and actor Dave King kicked off the New Year by tying the knot with his lady love, Jenny Repko, in Manhattan Beach in Cali. Congrats to all.

Former Evine host Daniel Green, who left the network last year to break out as a chef and to hawk pots in infomercials, has turned up on the No. 3 home shopping channel again. We don’t know what that’s about, but it looks like the dashing Brit is back with “The Sizzle.”

https://www.facebook.com/DanielGreenEvine/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

And finally, Melissa Gorga of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” fame, has apparently closed the shop she had opened in our town, Montclair, N.J. Our talented colleague at our day job, Joan Verdon, broke the story.

http://www.northjersey.com/story/money/2017/01/03/real-housewives-retail-plot-twist—envy-closed/96113256/

What’s the home shopping connection? Gorga is one of the many women from the Bravo “Housewives” franchises to do a jewelry line. Her’s was for HSN.