New Execs at Borders
Borders Group has appointed Robert Gruen executive v-p of merchandising and marketing, while Kenneth Armstrong has been appointed executive v-p of U.S. stores. Vin Altruda, president of Borders worldwide, will leave the company at the end of the month. Both Gruen, who starts February 5, and Armstrong, who begins February 26, had previously worked with Borders CEO George Jones.
Gruen and Armstrong will report directly to Jones, as will David Roche, managing director of Borders U.K., and John Campradt, managing director of Borders Asia Pacific. They had reported to Altruda.
O'Connell Joins Scholastic
Maureen O'Connell, who spent two years as CFO at Barnes & Noble, will join Scholastic January 22 as CFO and in the newly created post of chief administrative officer. Mary Winston, current CFO, has resigned, and Peter Watts, senior v-p of human resources, is leaving for a similar position with a pharmaceutical company. O'Connell will oversee all administrative functions, leaving Scholastic chairman Dick Robinson free to focus on the company's book, education, media, Internet and direct-marketing businesses.
Since leaving B&N in 2002, O'Connell has served as president and COO of the research firm Gartner Inc. and, most recently, as CFO of Affinion Group.
HC Shuts Regan, Cancels '7'
HarperCollins will close the Regan Books Los Angeles office March 1 and, effective immediately, will begin replacing the Regan logo on books with an HC logo. By September, HC expects to place titles that were to be published under the Regan imprint with other HC units. Cal Morgan, Regan Books editorial director, and three other executives are returning to New York to help publish the Regan titles; Suzanne Wickham is remaining in California as West Coast publicity director. Ten other Regan staffers were let go.
The company has also decided to cancel Peter Golenbock's controversial 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel. Rights have reverted to Golenbock.
Mixed Results At Courier
Total revenue at Courier Corp. for the first quarter ended December 30 rose 11%, to $64.3 million, although net income fell 10%, to $4 million. Sales in Courier's publishing segment jumped 53% in the quarter, to $16.8 million, due mainly to the inclusion of Creative Homeowner, which Courier bought last April. Sales at Dover were down 13%. In the printing segment, sales rose 4%, to $50 million. Sales to the education market rose only 2%, limited by a lull in school textbook printing, partially offset by gains to the college market. Sales to the trade market rose 14%, while religion book printing fell 2%.
New B'Mann Chairman
Hartmut Ostrowski has been named successor to Gunter Thielen, taking over the position of chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann. Ostrowski, who will officially step into his new role in January 2008, is chairman of Arvato, Bertelsmann's printing and communications service provider division.
