As seen on TV, and shipped from Ontario?

QVC is in talks to open a giant warehouse here that might ship $500 million or more in merchandise annually to home shoppers.

If built, the warehouse would total 1 million square feet, roughly the size of four Wal-Mart Supercenters, and would employ more than 900 people.

The City Council at its Tuesday meeting approved a deal with the company. I spotted the item on the agenda, realized its importance and made sure to attend.

And you had to have sharp eyes, because the item was approved in under a minute, with no oral report, explanation or comment. Unless you count Mayor Paul Leon’s murmured remark, “It’s approved unanimously? Cool.”

Even by Ontario’s all-business standards, this was brisk and quiet. The reason became clearer on Wednesday.

QVC must still sign off on a lease with Sares Regis, which plans to construct a series of warehouses on a portion of its 250 acres north of the 10 Freeway between Vineyard and Archibald avenues.

“They have not completed their negotiations. They have not made a final determination, which is for them a business decision,” one city official told me, requesting anonymity until an announcement is ready.

While QVC is party to the agreement approved Tuesday, “it’s not a building permit or a lease,” the official cautioned.

Understood. While Ontario believes a deal could be announced within days, no need to sound the trumpets until it’s official. And if QVC opts out, it’s always possible this column will be the last anyone hears of it.

The location would be along Inland Empire Boulevard on the west side of the Cucamonga Creek Channel. QVC would occupy the largest of seven planned warehouses and the Pennsylvania-based company would use it as its West Coast distribution center.

QVC, for the record, says it shipped 173 million products for $8.8 billion in sales last year. Its home-shopping channel is said to be available in 300 million homes worldwide. Fun fact: Its acronym stands for Quality, Value and Convenience.

City Hall says QVC explored numerous cities in California but liked Ontario. (My whimsical guess is that most of its orders come from within a 10-mile radius.)

Ontario believes the deal is so far along that QVC isn’t negotiating with any other cities but has no way of knowing for sure.

Either way, council members signed off on the “economic development subsidy report,” which includes a sales-tax rebate. Ontario would return 55 percent of any sales tax up to $5 million and 60 percent thereafter, for 41 years.

In other words, if Ontario were to collect $5 million in sales tax, QVC would get back $2.75 million and Ontario would keep $2.25 million. If sales taxes totaled, say, $5.5 million, QVC would get $3.3 million and Ontario would keep $2.2 million.

That’s a hefty give-back, but it was described to me as essential to closing the deal and reaping the benefits.

“This was very much a necessary agreement in order for QVC to hopefully make the final decision to come here,” the official said.

If QVC agrees to come to Ontario, ground could be broken in July and the facility could open next summer.

At City Hall, I imagine, operators are standing by.

Culture Corner

• As part of “Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow: Living With the Atomic Bomb,” an exhibit about the atomic age that opened Thursday and runs through Aug. 9 at the Ontario Museum of History and Art, the movie “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” will screen at 6 p.m. Saturday at the museum, 225 S. Euclid Ave. Admission is free but reservations are requested to 909-395-2510.

• Lesley Tellez, a Rancho Cucamonga native who operates a food tourism business in Mexico City and was the subject of a column of mine in 2011, has authored a cookbook, “Eat Mexico: Recipes from Mexico City’s Streets, Markets and Fondas.” Tellez, who now lives in New York City, will return to her hometown (awww) for a talk and book signing at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes and Noble, 11090 Foothill Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga.

Online only

On my blog this week: my two Daily Bulletin on Vacation photos from New York City, one at Upland and the other at a corner notable only to Beastie Boys fans, and photos of foodie sights in St. Louis and New York. Travel without spending a dime at insidesocal.com/davidallen.

More Ontario

In other news from Tuesday’s council meeting:

• The Huck Finn Jubilee was the subject of a report from Michael Krouse, head of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. “What the Huck is going on?” the mayor asked. “Huck yeah!” Krouse replied cheerfully. That was the bluegrass festival’s social media hashtag, “#huckyeah.” Krouse said attendance was 38,280, with 2,257 hotel rooms booked and an economic impact of $7.1 million. (The amount of beer consumed was not estimated.)

• Archibald Ranch homeowners backed away from a hint at the last meeting that City Hall might owe them damages due to the 200-foot Edison towers, with John Johnson apologizing and saying: “Edison is the enemy.”

• Councilman Paul Vincent Avila, during wide-ranging remarks at the meeting’s end, mentioned that he appreciates “reporters like David Allen, who occasionally attends these meetings. I greet him with a ‘shalom’ and he responds with an ‘ave.’” Afterward a city official said to me, “I didn’t know you were Jewish.” It was news to me too. But even if I’m not part of the tribe, I’ll take a friendly “shalom” over some things the councilman could say.

David Allen writes Friday, Sunday and Wednesday, and more you could ask for? Contact david.allen@langnews.com or 909-483-9339, visit insidesocal.com/davidallen, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.