QVC layoffs begin, most in W. Chester

Television retailer QVC began a series of layoffs yesterday that would result in the elimination of about 900 jobs - most of them in West Chester - over the next 14 months.

The announcement came after a rough quarter. QVC's third-quarter revenue, ended Sept. 30, decreased 3 percent to $1.64 billion. Revenue in the United States fell 9 percent to $1.07 billion.

Nationwide, retailers predict a brutal holiday season. Best Buy Co. Inc. slashed its earnings forecast and said "seismic" changes in consumer behavior have created "the most difficult climate" it had ever seen. Macy's Inc. swung to a third-quarter loss and predicted same-store sales would fall more than 10 percent in November.

The cuts at QVC, combined with other reductions, will save the company $30 million to $40 million a year when completed, said Michael George, QVC's president and chief executive officer. He said the company remained "highly profitable."

QVC told 160 employees today that their jobs were being eliminated immediately. About 110 were at the company's corporate headquarters and studio in West Chester and its operations center about two miles away.

QVC will lay off 500 additional people at its distribution center in West Chester over roughly a year, starting after the holidays. Its West Chester call center will close around March 27, leaving 250 additional people out of work. Employees in that building who perform administrative functions will keep their jobs.

The company will create 200 jobs at its Florence, S.C., operations, for a net loss of about 700 jobs, or or 5.8 percent of QVC's U.S. workforce.

The West Chester call center handled about 9 percent of calls. The distribution center there was by far the company's smallest, and it handled orders for jewelry, a product that has been especially hard-hit by the slumping economy.

George said sales of consumer electronics remained "very strong," and what he called "practical presents" were also selling well.

"It was hard," he said of the layoffs. "There was no other way to describe it. A lot of shock. A lot of sadness. Some tears. It was a very emotional time."