Home shopping network HSN, which has operated out of Florida for nearly 50 years, will be closing its St. Petersburg campus to relocate to the Pennsylvania headquarters of its sister channel, QVC.
The parent of the two networks, Qurate Retail Group, on Wednesday said it was consolidating the operations of the two networks. HSN has offices and TV studios at 1 HSN Drive in St. Petersburg. QVC's headquarters, known as Studio Park, is at 1200 Wilson Drive in West Chester, in the Philadelphia area.
"QVC’s and HSN’s broadcast operations and content production capabilities are key differentiators for each brand," Qurate, based in Englewood, Colorado, said in a statement. "Centralizing these functions in Studio Park gives HSN access to the world-class studios and technology that exist there. In addition, Qurate Retail Group is building a next-generation content engine in Studio Park that can quickly capture content to deploy on social, streaming and more for both HSN and QVC."
HSN owns and occupies a 107,493-square-foot property in St. Petersburg, according to CoStar data. QVC's headquarters has 585,000 square feet and sits on 85 acres, according to CoStar. In 2022, QVC sold that main building and several industrial properties to Chicago-based Oak Street Real Estate Partners, a subsidiary of New York's Blue Owl, for $443 million in a sale-leaseback deal.
Electronic retailers such as QVC and HSN have struggled and seen their sales slow, just like their brick-and-mortar counterparts. The home shopping networks have dozens of online competitors now, including e-commerce giant Amazon. And the demographics for the networks skew older, according to company officials.
In the third quarter, revenue for QVC and HSN dropped 6%, to $1.52 billion.
Qurate said it expects the new consolidated operation "to activate over the coming months, with HSN beginning live broadcasting from Studio Park" by the third quarter.
It also said HSN will continue to operate its TV channels, HSN and HSN2, and its digital properties, HSN.com and the HSN mobile app. HSN and QVC US will continue to maintain "distinct brand voices and focus on growing their distinct customer bases," according to Qurate.
“The HSN brand will continue to be an integral part of Qurate Retail Group as we activate our growth strategy and position the company for sustained success moving forward,” Stacy Bowe, president, HSN Brand & US Merchandising, said in a statement. “We have the deepest appreciation to the state of Florida and the St. Petersburg community for their support and dedication over HSN’s 47-year history."
Qurate also reorganized its management in light of the relocation of HSN's operations to West Chester.
“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,” David Rawlinson, Qurate president and CEO, said in a statement.