Barnes & Noble has added a new executive, hiring Carl Hauch as vp, stores, “responsible for the entire retail store organization and profitable growth of the business, driving sales, training, developing talent and recruitment.” Hauch reports directly to ceo Demos Parneros. He has been chief operating officer at urgent care provider CityMD, and previously was an executive at Starbucks, serving as ceo of Starbucks Switzerland and Austria.
Separately, Len Riggio has been named Grand Marshal of this year’s Columbus Day Parade in New York City. His theme will be A Celebration of Italian-American Authors, and he is “inviting Italian-American authors from across the country to march up Fifth Avenue with him in the parade.”
Ilene Schreider has joined Sourcebooks as senior manager of specialty retail. Previously, she was assistant director of specialty sales for Time Books.
Spencer Johnson, 78, author of bestselling business management book Who Moved My Cheese (which has sold over 28 million copies worldwide), died on July 3 from complications of pancreatic cancer. Johnson also co-authored The One-Minute Manager, originally self published. In negotiations with William Morrow, Johnson insisted that the publisher charge $15 for the slim hardcover rather than the $7.99 the house proposed. (He and Blanchard were already selling photocopies for $10 each.)
The last black-owned bookstore in Wisconsin, Milwaukee’s The Reader’s Choice, closed on Saturday. Owner for for 28 years Carla Allison is retiring.