The interim chief executive of Eden Prairie-based home shopping network Evine Live has been selected to fill the role permanently.
Bob Rosenblatt, a former executive at Tommy Hilfiger, HSN and Bloomingdale's, took over the day-to-day operations of the company in February after the previous CEO left amid a management shake-up. His appointment is effective immediately.
Rosenblatt will remain a member of the board but will relinquish his role of chairman.
He acknowledged in May that he was a candidate for the permanent position during a conference call with analysts after reporting quarterly results that showed some progress but also continued struggles with profitability.
"Since assuming the role of interim CEO earlier this year, I feel we have made significant progress toward improving the company's merchandising balance, accelerating the development of engaging brands our customers love and prioritizing profitability for continued shareholder growth," Rosenblatt said in a statement. "We feel interactive video commerce is the most dynamic opportunity in the retail landscape today, and we are positioned well to continue to deliver this experience to our customers."
Rosenblatt was one of several executives who took charge of the struggling company in June 2014 after a proxy fight. Mark Bozek was initially installed as chief executive, but he stepped down in February after investors had lost confidence in his turnaround efforts. Bozek had been focused on diversifying the company's merchandising mix away from its heavy reliance on jewelry and watches toward lower-margin items such as clothes, kitchen goods and beauty products.
Landel Hobbs, another Evine board member, will take over as board chairman.
"During the past six months, Bob has shown that there is no better person to lead Evine," Hobbs said in a statement. "Bob's proven leadership, his years of both traditional retail and electronic retail experience, and his abilities to inspire and coalesce the team around him makes him the perfect person at this exciting time in video commerce."
Last year, the company changed its network name from ShopHQ. Its previous corporate name was ValueVision Media.
The company will release its second-quarter results next week.
Kavita Kumar • 612-673-4113
