Dive Brief:
- Qurate Retail Group shuttered its headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida, as part of a broader move to consolidate its QVC US and HSN operations, the company announced in late January. The media conglomerate will move brand operations to Studio Park in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
- The company plans to build a content engine at Studio Park to create social shopping media and streaming content for HSN and QVC. Qurate expects HSN to begin live broadcasting from Studio Park by Q3.
- Qurate also made a number of executive leadership changes as part of the announcement. The company named Mike Fitzharris president of QVC’s U.S. brand and chief operating officer. Stacy Bowe took over as president of the HSN brand and U.S. merchandising while Eve DelSoldo became executive vice president and general counsel. The company is in search of a chief growth officer.
Dive Insight:
Qurate is working to usher in a new era of shopping for the company, one that optimizes and expands its social and streaming capabilities.
David Rawlinson, president and CEO of Qurate Retail, in a statement said the company is redefining itself and the role it plays for customers. For example, Qurate is centralizing operations in Studio Park to give HSN access to its studios and technology, allowing the company to capture and deploy content quicker for both its channels.
“With a realigned organizational structure supporting QVC US and HSN together in certain parts of the business, we will work more efficiently, build new capabilities faster by operating together in one location, and unlock an even better customer experience,” Rawlinson said.
The company is in a prolonged turnaround period, one that included a warning of a delisting. In December, the company switched from the Nasdaq Global Select Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market.
Qurate announced the shift in strategy in November, repositioning itself as a live social shopping company, building on its TV legacy. The plan includes efforts to develop streaming commerce options across platforms such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube TV.
It also plans to refresh production studios, add celebrities and sales content to social media channels and tailor its content to TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
In a recent earnings call, Qurate Retail reported that revenue decreased 5% year over year and QxH, which operates QVC and HSN, revenue decreased 6%. "As anticipated, Q3 was the most difficult quarter of 2024,” Rawlinson told analysts in November. Rawlinson also mentioned Qurate’s plans to reach audiences on primarily social and streaming platforms
