On a recent Monday morning, only three operators were working but during busier times, say, on a Thursday evening, as many as a dozen would man the phones. When someone calls in, it rings like a rotary phone circa 1975, a ring that can be heard by the viewer to generate a sense of urgency. The back part of the room featured three rows for operators to take calls. The network is available in more than 60 million households nationwide including the major cable and satellite operators in metro Atlanta. On the demand side, GSN has benefited from people shopping from home and watching more TV. Fortunately, Hauser said, there was never a mass outbreak. “There were times we thought we were very close to not going live on a show,” Hauser said.īut the network never shut down, even when a few employees caught the virus. They even began dabbling outside the gem world, with luxury handbags adding $400,000 to the top line. Supply chain disruptions reduced available inventory, leading to more repetition of non-selling products. They stopped using models and forced hosts that normally tag team to go solo. In March, COVID-19 restrictions meant the operation had to go largely remote. The focus is squarely on the jewelry and gems, typically on a rotating display.Īsif Rupani, the production manager, said the operation is like the Beck song “Where It’s At,” which repeats the line, “two turntables and a microphone.” And like a DJ, the hosts take requests from callers seeking to look more carefully at particular items on the turntables. The hosts use two cramped sets that lack any particular visual pizazz. Its revenues do not go into building a fancy production.
Hauser said they are set to sell more than 100,000 pieces of jewelry for the first time in a calendar year, splitting the sales amount with the vendor 50/50. (Last year, a buyer picked up a rare $1.1 million Kashmir sapphire ring.) So if GSN sells 20 items in an hour, that’s a good hour.Īlthough the privately held company does not reveal annual revenues, GSN now has more than 130 employees and is projecting its best year ever.
The average purchase price of an item on GSN is $2,800. What differentiates GSN from Knoxville, Tennessee-based Jewelry Television and its other competitors is that it sells one-of-a-kind pieces. Reality is the company does not want to draw attention to itself since millions of dollars worth of gems and jewelry pass through the building every day.
He previously was general manager for Hispanic markets with the Discovery cable networks including HGTV and Food Network. “It’s very much on purpose,” said Eduardo Hauser, chief executive officer, who joined the network a year ago.
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