Lay offs at HSN, Cornerstone

HSN Inc. (HSNi) has let go 110 employees, or less than 3% of HSN's staff and eliminated 75 positions, or approximately 3%, from Cornerstone's staff, according to the company.

“Over the past two years we have made great progress in executing against our objective of reigniting the HSN brand, growing our active customer base and improving the quality of our products, service and experience,” said Brad Bohnert, director of public relations & events, in a company statement. However, because of the challenging economic environment, HSNi wants to insure that its resources are maximized and dedicated to company priorities.

HSN also has eliminated 52 open positions.

The company was formed in August when IAC completed the spin-off of several businesses, including Interval Leisure Group, Ticketmaster and Tree.com, in addition to HSNi. The new entities began trading as independent public companies on the NASDAQ National Market on August 21.

HSNi includes HSN TV, hsn.com and the Cornerstone Brands Inc. portfolio of multichannel brands: Alsto's, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Smith+Noble and others.