Home Shoppers Buy Montana Products
The nation’s home shoppers apparently consider Montana-made products hot items.
Twenty Montana products went on display Saturday on the QVC network - and several of them sold out while the special three-hour telecast was still on the air.
The 300 stuffed bears offered by Yvette Soltis and Sharon Hawke’s company, Bear Fax of Polson, were snapped up in five minutes - at $87.30 apiece.
The women had spent six weeks stitching the bears.
“It took me a while to realize what happened, it happened so fast,” Soltis said.
Another big seller was a miniature homestead made of weathered barnwood by Marcia Staigmiller and her daughter-in-law, Lynne Staigmiller, of Great Falls. Same price - $87.50 each.
The show was broadcast from Giant Springs State Park outside Great Falls. The 20 Montana items were chosen by QVC from more than 300 offered at a craft fair in the spring.
Marcia Staigmiller said QVC sells the products at about a 40 percent markup, then returns unsold items to the makers.
QVC, the nation’s largest home-shopping network, is viewed in an estimated 50 million households. The Montana show was the 25th in a series of 50 that are featuring products from each state.