December 2008 Archives

Beware of Bogus Going out of Business Sales

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On December 1st 2008 a new shopping channel appeared, the Liquidation Channel.  Low prices, no returns.  But it's not new, the Liquidation Channel is just a fictitious name belonging to The Jewelry Channel Inc of Texas.  The Jewelry Channel 'went out of business' the day before, 16 hours before to be more exact.

Back in June the Jewelry Channel first announced it was going out of business.  At that time they told the Texas Workforce Commission they would close up at the beginning of August, but that's not what happened.  Instead they kept pushing back their final day.  At some point they must have realized how profitable a going out of business sale can be and decided to drag it out as long as possible.  They must have liked the big profits from running an 'all sales are final' operation.  They must have liked it so much they decided to retain the 'no returns' policy under their new name.

Who is the Jewelry Channel anyway?  It turns out that an Indian based multinational corporation called the VGL Group owns it.  About the same time that the Jewelry Channel appeared in the US in 2007 they also started two other channels, one in England and one in Germany. Der Schmuck kanal is what they're called in Germany.  In the US they go by the name of STS Jewels.

In August 2006 Sunil Agrawal, chairman of VGL and STS Jewels and a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Michael John O'Keefe were indicted on charges of bribery and conspiracy.  Agrawal was charged with bribing O'Keefe to allow foreign workers into the United States.
Next Saturday evening we will be airing the Kathy HIlton 'Wishing Tree' Charity Auction live from LA.  The auction will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Some of the items that will go up for auction include: Two tickets to a Jonas Brothers concert of your choosing and a meet-and-greet; on-set lunch with the cast of "Entourage;" two "American Idol" tickets donated by Ryan Seacrest; VIP Las Vegas package to see Fergie in concert and attend the after party; two tickets to "The Ellen Degeneres Show" and a autographed personal item from Ellen; autographed scripts from Leonardo DiCaprio, "Entourage," "Two and a Half Men," "Desperate Housewives;" and items from Donald Trump, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Will Ferrell and Top Designer clothing, handbags and accessories donated by Kathy, Nicky and Paris Hilton.


There will be a 10% buyer's premium applied to all items bought online.

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This page is an archive of entries from December 2008 listed from newest to oldest.

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