WEST CHESTER, Pa. - I can't write fast enough.
See, up here on the observation deck above QVC's studios in West Chester, there are television monitors that show how many calls are coming in, how many products they've sold and how much money they've made. Today, in the past year, in the 12 years since QVC debuted.
And since I'm here to write a story about tours of QVC Studio Park, I'd like to have some of these numbers for my story.
But I can't write fast enough.
The calls keep coming, the numbers keep changing, and QVC is selling merchandise faster than I can jot it all down.
It's not even lunchtime on a Thursday, and already today they've sold 1,376 of the "Today's Special Value," which is a highlighted product that changes at midnight each day.
Today it's a sewing machine which, at $139.98, has about 30 bucks knocked off the retail price. Now keep in mind that this sewing machine has actually only appeared on television for 67 minutes since midnight, interspersed with dozens of other products.
And before I finish writing all this down, a few more have been sold.
A tour of QVC Studio Park offers a look inside the broadcasting side of this home-shopping giant which, in 1996, outdid Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue in net sales ($1.8 billion).
"It's really about the product," is how our guide explained QVC before we began our walk through Studio Park, where public tours began in October 1997.
In reality, it's about selling the product, which QVC does in remarkable quantity. While the tour offers plenty of insight into how QVC's television programming is assembled, it also reveals some astonishing statistics:
* Since 1986, when the network debuted, QVC has received more than 560 million telephone calls and shipped more than 600 million orders.
* The company takes more than 11,000 calls an hour at its four call centers - two in West Chester, one in Chesapeake, Va., and another in San Antonio.
* During this year's two 24-hour Gold Rush events, QVC - the world's largest retailer of gold jewelry - sold close to $50 million worth of jewelry.
In just 12 years, QVC has become America's top "televised retailer" - a category with admittedly slim competition - and has grown to include networks QVC in the United States; QVC United Kingdom and QVC Germany; QVC Mexico (CV Directo); QVC Japan (Mall of TV); the iQVC Internet site (http://www.qvc.com); and a 1-800 shopping service through which callers have access to the entire QVC inventory.
It's an empire built on people like Barbara and Guy Fulmer, a 50-ish Pennsylvania couple taking the QVC studio tour on their way to a vacation on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
"I think I've bought something from every one of those people," says Barbara, after watching the tour's introductory video featuring the network hosts. Among her purchases are shoes, a Ricoh camera and a deep fryer.
"I'd say I put [QVC] on every day," she explains. "But I don't watch forever."
She watches enough to recognize Suzanne, a sharply dressed woman seated on the jewelry stage, selling a pair of earrings to America.
QVC can be seen in more than 75 million homes worldwide, but here in the studio, Suzanne is waving and gesturing to no one in particular.
Because most of QVC's cameras are operated robotically - by a control-room joystick - there appears to be no one at all paying attention to the hosts on the floor.
Many members of the production staff are working in or around the tour's most impressive visual, the QVC home. This is an indoor, 8,000-square foot, two-story home - three-sided, for the television cameras - which offers network hosts an assortment of rooms in which to demonstrate products. Living and dining rooms - with working fireplaces - adjoin a functional kitchen. Upstairs are a home office and bedrooms. There's even a two-car garage, in which a Ford Explorer is parked, and a golden retriever named Murphy.
Nearby are the jewelry stage and the fashion stage, two flexible sets on which much of QVC's merchandise is presented to the television audience.
QVC keeps a Hall of Fame on the tour, in which significant sales days and products are remembered. There's the alliance with Craftsman, "the first major-brand relationship," and the Fashion Footwear Association of New York breast-cancer benefit, which raised $4 million by selling shoes. The most successful "special value" day to date - Dec. 6, 1998 - saw QVC sell more than $35.6 million in expected-to-ship orders of Pionex Intel Pentium computers.
Throughout the tour, our guide explains how products get on the air.
In the quality-assurance department, one woman is unpacking a Power Juicer as another examines a gemstone. If they're approved, they'll become part of a projected 150,000 pieces stored in "product central" this year.
The network holds two of each chosen item - one for display on the air, the other to be videotaped and stored on laser disc, giving producers instant access to the entire inventory.
The final stop on the tour is the observation deck, where sales figures spin by on the television monitors: They've sold nearly $5 million in the 24 hours before our arrival.
Our guide tells us that average QVC viewers watch for 40 hours before making their first purchase.
I'm waiting for the numbers to stop so I can write them down. I may just be here that long.
AN IDEAL DAY
10 a.m.: The tour of QVC's studios will have to wait a bit, because the day begins at the New Year, New You Beauty Clinic with Lynne Tucker, one of QVC's ever-smiling program hosts. The QVC stylist and models will tell you how to look f-aaaaaa-bulous, just as they do. If you're lucky, you'll be one of the two people chosen for a free makeover.
Noon: Take the new you on the QVC Studio Tour. Just as you do at home, you can look through the glass and watch the beautiful people hawking merchandise. Find out how they built a house indoors, and why there's an SUV parked in the garage. Linger near the kitchen set long enough for some free food.
1:30 p.m.: Grab a quick snack from the gift shop, because another show is coming up.
2 p.m.: The morning show helped bring out the best in you. Now it's time to bring out the best in your attic. Tony Hyman, author of "Trash or Treasure Directory of Buyers," tells you how to make money from the hidden treasures in your home. After his one-hour seminar, he'll examine your out-of-the-ordinary stuff.
5 p.m.: Dinner by candlelight awaits at the Dilworthtown Inn (1390 Old Wilmington Pike, West Chester), just a few miles south of QVC Studio Park, off U.S. Route 202. Built in 1754, the inn survived the Battle of Brandywine and the 20th century (when it became a private home and boardinghouse). It was restored in 1969. A bit more expensive than the food court at the nearby King of Prussia Mall, but it's got character. Call 610-399-1390 for reservations.
WHEN YOU GO ...
Getting there: Take Interstate 95 north to Wilmington, Del., and U.S. Route 202 north/Concord Pike. Follow U.S. Route 202 north for about 16 miles to Boot Road exit. Follow Boot Road to the second traffic light and turn right at Brandywine Industrial Park onto Wilson Drive. Go straight on Wilson Drive and then bear to your left at the QVC sign for the Studio/Studio Tour Entrance.
When to go: The QVC Studio Tour is open seven days a week, except some holidays.
Hours: Studio Tours are available every day, on the hour, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Additional tours are given Fridays at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Admission: $10 for adults, $5 for children age 6 to 12, and $7.50 for QVC Members.
Famous connections: Pseudo-celebrities are always dropping by QVC's studios:
* Richard Simmons will help ring in the new year on Dec. 31, plugging his Slimmons Gym and partying until it's 1999.
* Model Cheryl Tiegs will appear for a meet-and-greet on Jan. 3.
* Motivational guru Anthony Robbins will visit Jan. 9 to push his Personal Power II system.
Studio audiences are chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, but some events require reservations.
Information: Call the Studio Park Information Line at 800-600-9900 for reservations and information or check out http://www.qvctours.com.
Nearby:
* The King of Prussia Mall, about 10 miles north of QVC, is the second-largest mall in the country, with 365 specialty stores and nine department stores. Route 202 at Mall Boulevard. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
* At Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square, more than 11,000 plants are displayed on 1,000 acres, including 4 acres of heated greenhouses. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $12 for adults ($8 on Tuesdays), $6 for ages 16 to 20, $2 for ages 6 to 15 and free for children under 6. For information, call 610-388-1000.
* Herr's Snack Factory, in Nottingham, offers free tours - and samples - Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. At U.S. Route 1 and state Route 272. For information, call 800-63-SNACK.
Pub Date: 12/27/98