Liberty Interactive will rename itself Qurate Retail Group, once the company completes the split-off of GCI Liberty.
The company has also announced that Mike George, currently CEO of QVC, will become president and CEO of Qurate Retail Group. Greg Maffei, who currently holds that position, will become chairman.
Qurate Retail Group will comprise eight retail brands – QVC, HSN, zulily, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road and Improvements – all dedicated to providing a ‘third way to shop,’ beyond transactional ecommerce or traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
Globally, Qurate Retail Group will be reaching approximately 370 million homes worldwide via 16 television networks and multiple ecommerce sites, social pages, mobile apps, print catalogues, and in-store destinations.
“Qurate Retail Group will be a new venture in more ways than just a change of name,” said Greg Maffei.
“We will be a select group of like-minded businesses that provide customers with curated collections of unique products, made personal and relevant by the power of storytelling, combining the best of retail, media and social.”
As part of this rebrand, Qurate Retail Group will launch a new logo (see picture above).
The rebrand will be the culmination of a multi-year evolution for QVC Group. Each of the eight businesses of Qurate Retail Group will maintain its distinct consumer brand, logo and shopping experience in the new organisation.
HSN was the original TV shopping channel, followed by QVC. In October 2015, Liberty Interactive acquired zulily, and in December 2017, Liberty Interactive acquired full ownership of HSN, which included the Cornerstone Brands.
As Qurate Retail Group, the combined organisation will serve 23 million customers worldwide and will have 27,000 team members in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Poland and China. In 2017, Qurate Retail Group generated pro-forma revenue of $14 billion.
“We are creating a unique organisation, with the scale to drive extraordinary innovation in the retail space,” George said.
“With our highly innovative teams working together across brands, we will be able to offer an expanding array of engaging, content-rich shopping experiences, featuring world-class and entrepreneurial brands, supported with outstanding customer service.”