Barnes & Noble Education has shaken up the ranks in its retail segment, promoting two people to new jobs and announcing the elimination of one position. The moves are being made, B&NE said, “to accelerate the execution of its strategy and better align its cost structure with current business trends by consolidating certain leadership roles.”
Under the realignment, Jonathan Shar has been promoted to the newly created position of executive v-p of retail and client solutions. Shar will have overall responsibility for the growth and profitability of the retail segment, including the development and implementation of programs and products that deliver innovation and increased value to the higher education marketplace.
In a second appointment, Lisa Malat has been named president of Barnes & Noble College. Malat will have overall responsibility for the growth and profitability of the college store division, which manages physical campus bookstores and e-commerce sites nationwide.
Shar and Malat will continue to report directly to Mike Huseby, CEO and chairman of B&NE.
With the new appointments, Barry Brover’s positions as executive v-p of operations of B&NE and executive v-p of B&N College have been eliminated. Brover has been with B&NE for 34 years and will work with the new management team through the end of the fiscal year to ensure a smooth transition, Huseby said.
B&NE’s retail operation generates the majority of the company’s revenue. For the first six months of fiscal 2020 it accounted for $1.016 billion of B&NE’s total revenue of $1.019 billion.
