Shop At Home Network LLC, the TV and web retailing arm of The E.W. Scripps Co., has named James G. Held as the subsidiary’s new president and chairman.
Under the arrangement, Held, the former interim CEO for SmartBargains.com, will own an undisclosed minority stake in Shop At Home Network and direct all aspects of the unit’s TV and web retailing strategy.
"Our vision for Shop At Home has been to create an innovative interactive commerce business that fully benefits from the tremendous popularity of our lifestyle television networks," says Scripps CEO Kenneth W. Lowe. "By forging this important new partnership with Jim Held, we're demonstrating our mutual belief that there are significant opportunities for growth at Shop At Home."
In addition to his position at Smart Bargains, Held also spent four years as president of Home Shopping Network and was employed for two years as executive vice president in charge of merchandising, planning, marketing, new business development and strategic alliances at QVC Inc.
At Shop At Home Network, Held will take over a business that’s looking to grow from a smaller TV retailer into a more diversified online retailer. In addition to redesigning its web site and adding products, Shop At Home Network is also trying to build more shopping synergy with the 12 million affluent viewers of Scripps’ lifestyle-oriented cable television programming.
"Scripps has a great collection of trusted media brands, particularly in the lifestyle categories of home and food, and we can build Shop At Home into a serious competitor in the fast-growing electronic commerce marketplace," Held says.
Shop At Home Network, No. 212 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, generates annual e-commerce sales of more than $60 million, the company says.
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