Leslie Ferraro Named President of Qurate’s HSN and QVC Units
● The former Disney executive is charged with developing experiences to attract more consumers to the platforms.
Qurate Retail Group has named Leslie Ferraro president of QVC and HSN, the company's largest business unit, now called QxH.
Ferraro will begin her new job on Sept.16 and report to Mike George, president and chief executive officer of Qurate Retail, the company announced Tuesday.
In a statement, Qurate said Ferraro's primary focus will be “to advance the company's growth strategies by leveraging the power of video, storytelling and curated retail experiences on new and next- generation platforms.” A Qurate spokeswoman said George's responsibilities remain the same.
Last year, QVC generated $6.3 billion in revenues and HSN generated $2.28 billion revenues, for a combined $8.58 billion in volume.
Ferraro was most recently co-chair of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media and president of Disney Consumer Products. She worked at Disney for 17 years. Given her strong background and one that's relevant to Qurate's mission, she could be considered a possible successor to the 57-year-od George one day. The company spokeswoman had no comment on any succession planning.
“Leslie's extensive experience driving growth and innovation, particularly her impact on a global scale at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the world's preeminent experiential brand, fits perfectly with our focus on delivering the world's most engaging shopping experiences across all platforms and devices,” said George. He added that Ferraro's track record of advancing consumer-centric initiatives will be important in Qurate's efforts to get consumers to engage with QVC and HSN and “discover a new way to shop.”
Reporting to Ferraro will be Mary Campbell, Qurate Retail's chief merchandising officer and chief commerce officer for QVC U.S., and Mike Fitzharris, president of HSN.
At Disney, Ferraro led the Disney
Store and retail businesses and a global organization that delivered products across the toy, book, home and apparel categories, connecting audiences to
Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel brands.
Earlier at Disney, Ferraro served as executive vice president, global marketing, sales and travel operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Before Disney, Ferraro worked at McCann-Erickson advertising and Johnson & Johnson, the health-care products company.
She characterized her mission at Qurate Retail as elevating the QVC and HSN brands and “accelerating the implementation of strategies that will cement our position as a leader in experiential retail.”
The Qurate Retail Group comprises QVC, HSN, Zulily, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill and Grandin
Road. The formation of the Qurate Retail Group is a result of Liberty's acquisition of HSN in December 2017.