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Barnes & Noble fires CEO

US chain bookseller Barnes & Noble (B&N) has fired CEO Demos Parneros after 14 months in the role, reports Publishers Weekly.

In a brief statement, the retailer said Parneros will step down from his position immediately for ‘violations of the company’s policies’, although it did not reveal what those violations were. B&N also stated that the termination ‘is not due to any disagreement with the Company regarding its financial reporting, policies, or practices or any potential fraud relating thereto’. The retailer said the dismissal was undertaken by its board of directors, under the advice of law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Parneros was appointed CEO in April 2017. He replaced company founder Len Riggio, who had been serving as interim CEO since August 2016 when he replaced Ron Boire after less than a year in the role.

During Parneros’ brief tenure as CEO, B&N posted a loss of US$125 million in fiscal 2018, which Parneros at the time said was part of ‘a long-term strategic turnaround plan’, expected to yield ‘immediate improvement’ in fiscal 2019. Parneros did initiate a number of plans to cut costs, including large cuts to staff in February 2018 as part of a new ‘labour model’ and also announced a plan to open five smaller prototype stores this year to better suit the changing retail landscape.

The US retailer has appointed a leadership team comprising chief financial officer Allen Lindstrom, chief merchandising officer Tim Mantel and vice-president of stores Carl Hauch to lead the company while it searches for a new CEO. Founder Riggio will remain executive chairman and will be involved in its management, B&N said.

 

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Category: International news