Retail veteran Meade Rudasill will join QVC as chief operating officer, a newly created position, effective Feb. 5, according to officials.
The home shopping company is undergoing a restructuring of the responsibilities held by executives Bill Costello and Tom Downs, who will both retire March 31, as previously announced.
Rudasill joins QVC with significant retail and operational experience. Most recently, he served as president and COO of Limited Brands and co-leader of Express, a specialty-apparel chain. In this role, he was responsible for more than 700 stores, overseeing call-center operations, merchandise planning, finance, human resources, production and sourcing and business operations.
“Meade brings a diverse set of functional experiences to this role and the right blend of leadership skills to take on this important assignment for QVC,” said QVC CEO Mike George, to whom Rudasill will report. “We know he is the right fit for our business and our culture, and we are eager to embrace his contributions.”
In his new role at QVC, Rudasill will be responsible for various departments including affiliate relations, HR, information technology, legal, customer service, distribution, facilities and planning, quality assurance and new business development.
At Limited, Rudasill served as CEO of Beauty Avenues, a $1.3 billion subsidiary he established to commercialize brands and source globally for Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret Beauty, Henri Bendel, Pink Retail Brands and external brands in the beauty and personal-care sector. He was responsible for wholesale, product and fragrance development, manufacturing and operations, global sourcing and quality.
He was also co-leader of Bath & Body Works, Limited’s personal-care division, with responsibility for HR, culture shaping, retail process, commercialization, and demand chain.
Prior to Limited, Rudasill was COO and executive vice president of Banc One’s retail operations and VP and general manager of advanced technology at Allied Signal.
QVC is also promoting Dan O’Connell to chief financial officer, a role held by Costello, which will take effect Feb. 5. O’Connell, who joined QVC in 1987, most recently has served as senior VP and controller.
And John Hunter was promoted to executive VP of customer-fulfillment services, a newly created position, effective Feb. 5.
Hunter, who has been with the company 15 years, most recently served as senior VP of distribution, responsible for leading and directing the production of the distribution and logistic network through the company’s four U.S. distribution centers. Previously, Hunter was senior VP of customer services.
Also effective Feb. 5, additional responsibilities will be shifted to Neal Grabell, QVC’s executive VP, general counsel and secretary. Grabell, who has been with QVC since 1987, will oversee facilities design and planning and the company’s affiliate-sales and marketing division, in addition to his existing legal responsibilities.
