West Chester-based QVC and HSN are cutting 400 jobs
Qurate said job cuts at television shopping companies QVC and HSN are part of a multi-year growth strategy that included cost reductions.
About 400 employees have been laid off at television-shopping companies QVC Inc. and Home Shopping Network, the organizations’ parent company announced Tuesday.
Qurate, the parent company of West Chester-based QVC and Florida-based HSN, noted the job cuts in a statement Tuesday evening. It’s not clear where the 400 laid-off employees are based. Tuesday was their last day on the job, according to the company’s statement.
“These decisions are not easy but are necessary in realigning how we manage the business and heighten focus on critical priorities,” the statement said. Qurate added that it will provide severance, as well as extended access to the company’s employee assistance program and benefits at the employee rate.
The company said the cuts are part of a multi-year turnaround plan known as Project Athens, which Qurate described to investors last year. The third pillar of that plan noted an intention to lower costs — including a look at staffing.
Once called Liberty Interactive Corp., Qurate Retail Group rebranded in 2018, and moved its executive leadership from Colorado to QVC Studio Park in West Chester.
This is not the first time Qurate has looked to trim ranks in recent years, as the company also acquired other retail businesses.
QVC merged with HSN in 2017, two years after it bought mobile-shopping company Zulily. The combination created the third-largest online and mobile retailer in the United States, and was meant to help compete with such giants as Amazon and Walmart. At the time, the company planned to cut at least $75 million annually through the merger. The move affected several hundred jobs, most of which were at HSN’s Florida campus.
Zulily’s warehouse in the Lehigh Valley was shuttered last year, eliminating more than 500 jobs. Earlier in 2022, QVC shut down a distribution center in North Carolina that had been damaged by a fire, resulting in nearly 2,000 employees losing their jobs.
QVC also sold one of its West Chester buildings last year for $17.5 million, consolidating its West Chester operations to Studio Park.
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Other brands in the Qurate Retail Group are Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, and Grandin Road. Qurate has about 26,000 employees company-wide. Local numbers were not immediately available.
QVC announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings Wednesday morning. Total retail revenue was down 14% from 2021. “2022 was a challenging year for the company,” president and CEO David Rawlinson said.
The company planned the layoffs in 2022, the earnings announcement said.
QVC and HSN together posted revenue of about $7.4 billion last year, an 11% decline from 2021, while QVC International revenue was down 18% and Zulily revenue was down 38%. The company attributed some of this challenge to supply chain problems.
The fire in North Carolina created significant costs, as well. The company reported $21 million in fire-related costs at the end of 2021, and $29 million more in restructuring and fire-related costs at the end of 2022.
Also on Wednesday, Qurate announced a new CFO, Bill Wafford, who previously worked at clothing retailer Everlane, JCPenney, and Vitamin Shoppe.