Random House to Reenter Distribution Business

After an absence of about four years, Random House is returning to the third-party distribution business through the formation of Random House Distribution Services. The new division will be headed by Josh Wright, who has been named president; Wright will also continue in his current capacity as v-p, publishing operations. John Groton, formerly v-p, sales director for the RH trade group, has been appointed v-p, client relations.

RH will begin soliciting clients immediately, although corporate spokesperson Stuart Applebaum said the division has set conservative targets for its first few years of operation. "We believe over time this can become a substantial part of our business," Applebaum said. The new service will focus on distribution and fulfillment, not sales. Services it will offer include warehousing, customer service, order fulfillment, shipping, collections, customer credit management, sales reporting and inventory control.

In relaunching its distribution business, Don Weisberg, RH executive v-p and chief operating officer for North America, said the company is looking to leverage its extensive distribution network, in which it has invested more than $40 million in recent years. As part of the investments RH made in distribution following the merger with Bantam Doubleday Dell, the company now has the storage capacity for 190 million units.