Qvc

And on the 46th anniversary of the release of Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys played QVC. The reunited Beach Boys, that is, who are in the early stages of a 50th-anniversary reunion tour that was to have played a sold-out show at the Borgata on Saturday before returning to the Philadelphia area for a show at the Susquehanna Bank Center on June 16. They came to the sprawling 84-acre West Chester campus of the home shopping channel to hawk That's Why...

Jewelry designer Ann King was beginning to make a name for herself back in the early 1980s when she met fellow Philadelphia designer Steven Lagos at the Jewelers of America International Trade Show in New York. Over the next few years, the two merged their professional and personal lives under the Lagos banner. Lagos jewelry produced in Philadelphia became a luxury brand in demand in upscale stores across the country. When the couple married in 1987, Ann King became Ann Lagos. But on Monday night, Ann King will be reborn when QVC, the West Chester-based electronic retailer, introduces a line of designer jewelry - the Ann King Collection.

World Series MVP Cole Hamels, rightfielder Shane Victorino and Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt will be on QVC tonight to sell baseball collectibles. All three will be on at 11 p.m. to sell a Hamels-autographed World Series baseball; a Victorino-autographed World Series baseball; a framed Phillies team collage; a "1980 to 2008" Phillies framed picture; and a World Series leather jacket. Victorino and Schmidt will be on at 1 a.m. as well.

QVC has refinanced its credit facility with a new revolving line of credit of as much as $2 billion. The West Chester-based home-shopping channel, which is owned by Liberty Media Corp. of Englewood, Colo., immediately drew $1.83 billion at closing, Liberty Media said Thursday in a release. The new maturity date of 2015 replaces the credit facilities that were to expire between 2011 and 2014, while reducing the weighted average rate. "The new facilities enhance QVC's credit profile and further strengthen its balance sheet by providing additional financial flexibility and liquidity," said Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty.

Hit by losses from new overseas ventures, QVC Inc. said yesterday that first-quarter earnings dropped 44 percent from 1993. The West Chester company's TV home-shopping ventures in Mexico and the United Kingdom, begun last fall, lost $10 million, or 13 cents per share, for the quarter. QVC chairman Barry Diller said QVC's profit margin in its core retailing business slipped unexpectedly because of rising gold prices and because of strong sales of low-margin promotional specials.

Six years ago, its future was as murky as a bowl of split pea soup. But this year, the Book and the Cook has hit the big time. The definitive sign - it now sports the name of a corporate entity. The new name: "QVC's The Book and the Cook. " The city's premier dining event, which this year runs April 21 to 28, is a marriage made in culinary heaven. QVC Inc., the West Chester-based home shopping network, will spotlight some of their most popular TV chefs during the annual extravaganza that features internationally known chefs cooking in Philadelphia restaurants.

NEW YORK - QVC has become a fashion force to be reckoned with - so much so that the Chester County-based company hosted a celebrity-studded New York Fashion Week party and on-air telecast Friday night, complete with the Kardashian sisters. "I think the best part of the collaboration with QVC is the energy and thrill we get from connecting with people when you are selling live on the air," said Kourtney Kardashian, who, with her sisters, debuted in September a women's sportswear line called K-Dash.

On Nov. 1, 1986, QVC Inc. of West Chester had not much more than an office and a plan to begin transmitting to home shoppers part time. Today, three years and one merger later, QVC has become the nation's No. 1 home-shopping network. Last week, QVC completed its merger with CVN Companies Inc. of Plymouth, Minn., paying CVN stockholders $19 plus one-eighth of a QVC share for each share of CVN stock. The estimated sales of the new QVC should bump $1 billion annually. "Where we go from here I cannot predict exactly," chairman Joseph M. Segel told shareholders at a no-frills meeting to approve the merger Tuesday.

Losses from new ventures drove QVC Inc.'s third-quarter profits lower, the West Chester electronic retailer said yesterday. QVC said its results included net losses of $7.9 million, or 16 cents per share, from the company's Secondary Channel, a service that includes its "onQ" and "Q2" cable shopping channels. QVC also posted losses of $4.9 million, or 10 cents per share, from joint ventures. Results for the nine-month period ended Oct. 31 include net losses from the Secondary Channel of $10 million, or 20 cents per share, and net losses from joint ventures of $17.4 million, or 35 cents per share.

QVC has named Michael George president and chief executive officer, effective yesterday. He replaces Doug Briggs, who had been in the position since 1995, and who is retiring. George said yesterday that he did not envision making a lot of changes at the television shopping channel. "I just hope to be carrying on the success and traditions that we've enjoyed," he said. He specifically said he wanted to continue QVC's sales growth. Global sales last year for the Liberty Media Corp.

And on the 46th anniversary of the release of Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys played QVC. The reunited Beach Boys, that is, who are in the early stages of a 50th-anniversary reunion tour that was to have played a sold-out show at the Borgata on Saturday before returning to the Philadelphia area for a show at the Susquehanna Bank Center on June 16. They came to the sprawling 84-acre West Chester campus of the home shopping channel to hawk That's Why...

In the Region GlaxoSmith cancer drug approved A panel of cancer experts overwhelmingly backed the approval of a GlaxoSmithKline drug for a rare type of tumor, noting there are few other treatment options for patients. The Food and Drug Administration panel voted 11-2 that the benefits of the pill Votrient outweigh its side effects, even when considering that it did not significantly prolong life for patients with soft tissue sarcomas. The vote in favor of GlaxoSmith, which has significant operations in the area, is not binding, but the agency usually follows its recommendations.

EVEN THOUGH millions of grown-ups know far too much about Ron Weasley and Voldemort, J.K. Rowling, author of the gold-minting, money-printing "Harry Potter" series has an agreement with Little, Brown in the U.S. and Britain to release her first adult novel. Actually, it's more likely a novel for adults unless Ms. Rowling plans to get her freak on. The title, release date and details about the long-rumored book have not been announced. A neighbor of Rowling's in Edinburgh, author Ian Rankin , tweeted yesterday that he thinks Rowling has written a mystery novel.

I'M SUPER-elated that QVC dropped "Hanoi Jane" Fonda last weekend. Fonda snuggled up with the VC during the Vietnam War. She was going to be boycotted if she was going to promote her book. I say hoorah! for QVC in kicking her off. George J. Walton, Upper Darby In two weeks, the National Association of Black Journalists will hold its annual convention in the City of Brotherly Love. And, by the grace of St. Katharine Drexel in Camden, N.J., love is in the air. Wayne E. Williams Camden

Peter J.R. Sena, 78, of West Chester, a former newspaper editor, pharmaceutical company executive, and church volunteer, died of heart and kidney failure Saturday, June 4, at Chester County Hospital. Mr. Sena grew up in Cheltenham, graduated from Northeast Catholic High School, and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. He served in the Army and was stationed in Fort Jackson, S.C. After his discharge, he joined the Burlington County Times.

WHEN TATTLE met QVC host Lisa Robertson last year for a story that unfortunately never got into the paper, she said one of the best parts of her job was getting to go to Italy. It's that time of year again for Lisa, who will be selling Vicenza Style, fine Italian jewelry, live from Villa Arvedi in Grezzana, starting tonight at 9. Lisa, one of the most recognizable faces at QVC, came to the shopping network 16 years and hundreds of hairdos ago. She had done pageants growing up in the South, but never prepared for such a career.

NEW YORK - QVC has become a fashion force to be reckoned with - so much so that the Chester County-based company hosted a celebrity-studded New York Fashion Week party and on-air telecast Friday night, complete with the Kardashian sisters. "I think the best part of the collaboration with QVC is the energy and thrill we get from connecting with people when you are selling live on the air," said Kourtney Kardashian, who, with her sisters, debuted in September a women's sportswear line called K-Dash.

Someone in the household of Robert Stinson Jr., who was criminally charged a week ago in connection with an alleged $17 million Ponzi scheme, was an avid customer of QVC and HSN. Federal authorities found dozens of boxes from the TV home-shopping channels this week, many of them unopened, when they secured furnishings and other items in the Berwyn house where Stinson lives. Even more boxes from the shopping channels were found in a self-storage facility registered to Stinson's wife, Susan.

QVC Inc., West Chester, said it began live broadcasting today in Italy, adding an estimated 18 million homes to its potential audience of 200 million homes worldwide. The first product offerd by QVC Italy was a Bare Escentuals makeup kit costing 38 euros - about $51. Italian operations are from new studios in Milan, the home-shopping network said. It also has foreign operations in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.    - Reid Kanaley