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QVC jewelry sales slip amid 1 percent '08 decline

February 26, 2009

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Englewood, Colo.--Multichannel retailer QVC experienced only a slight drop in sales in 2008, despite a difficult fourth quarter and slipping jewelry sales.

According to results released Wednesday, QVC saw worldwide sales decline 8 percent to $2.14 billion in the fourth quarter, and fall 1 percent to $7.3 billion for the year.

In the United States, sales slipped 6 percent for the year to $4.91 billion and 12 percent in the fourth quarter to $1.48 billion, with QVC President and Chief Executive Officer Mike George noting during the company's earnings call Wednesday that jewelry and apparel were the "most challenged" categories.

During both the fourth quarter and 2008 as a whole, sales for QVC shifted away from jewelry to beauty and, to a lesser extent, home products.

"It was a tough quarter for us," George said.

But, he said, the company responded "early" and "aggressively" to the slowdown in consumer spending, marking down prices across the board.

West Chester, Pa.-based QVC ranked No. 4 in National Jeweler's $100 Million Supersellers list, which ranks stores in terms of sales volume. It saw an estimated $1.5 billion in jewelry and watch sales in the United States and $7.4 billion worldwide in 2007.

QVC is a division of Liberty Media LLC, which is comprised of Liberty Capital Group, Liberty Interactive Group and Liberty Entertainment Group.

The company sells jewelry brands including Black Hills Gold by Coleman, Honora and Tacori for Epiphany, as well as watches by Aria, Ecclissi and Gossip.

QVC is the largest element of Liberty Interactive, which reported a 4 percent decline in sales for the fourth quarter to $2.38 billion. For the year, sales were up 4 percent to $8.08 billion for Liberty Interactive.
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