The job reductions announced yesterday by Barnes & Noble have extended beyond the executive office and bookselling part of the company into their Sterling Publishing unit. One source at Sterling estimates that approximately 15 people at the publishing unit were laid off, throughout Sterling’s New York office, Lark Books line, and warehouse. At least two Sterling executives were let go. Moby Lives has information on one of them. BN spokesperson Mary Ellen Keating would not confirm or comment on our information, saying that “we have not broken out reductions by department.” Asked about Sterling’s publishing output, she said “there are […]
ABA's CEO to Step Down in July; Search Committee Established
American Booksellers Association president Gayle Shanks wrote to association members to share the news that ceo Avin Domnitz will leave the organization after the expiration of his contract this July after what will have been 12 years on the job. She writes, “I want to assure you that the ABA Board is working diligently to make this transition smooth and transparent. We will, with the help of our CEO Search Committee, find and hire a successor who will continue the programs we as an association depend on.”Shanks letter
Now, Random Group's Reorg
This morning the Random House Publishing Group joined the other adult publishing groups at the company in announcing a revised management structure, following the integration of the imprints of Bantam Dell, as well as Spiegel & Grau. In her letter to employees, president and publisher Gina Centrello notes that “regrettably, with this restructuring we have had to eliminate some positions across the division. As a result, a number of our colleagues are leaving the company. We are grateful to them for their many significant contributions to our publishing efforts, and we wish them well.” The company is not specifying the […]
Barnes & Noble Cuts Almost 100 Jobs
The leading bookseller announced after the close of the market that they are eliminating “close to 100 positions in its corporate headquarters.” CEO Steve Riggio notes in the release it is “the first time in the company’s history we’ve had to do this,” adding that “the business climate in which we are operating is unprecedented, and therefore, the reduction in expenses is inevitable.” He notes “the current business climate and the downturn in retail sales mandate that we reduce corporate overhead costs as appropriate to our overall sales volume.” The company will take an after-tax charge of $2.5 million to […]
More Big Publishing Declines at Courier Units
A “modest rise in book manufacturing sales was offset by across-the-board declines in specialty publishing segment” at Courier in their first quarter, with overall sales declining 5 percent to $59.6 million, while net income was $0.7 million, half of what it was a year ago. In the publishing segment, “the steepest declines were at Creative Homeowner in keeping with recent quarters and the persistent weakness in the nation”s housing sector.” Publishing sales of $11.5 million were down 25 percent from $15.3 million a year ago. The company says they had declines of 13 percent at Dover, 27 percent at REA […]
Sales Fall at Waterstone's
Sales for the five-week holiday period fell 2 percent on a same-store basis and 0.9 percent overall–but extend the period to 10 weeks, and the comps were down 4 percent as overall sales fell 3.2 percent. (The company did not report actual revenue numbers.) Waterstone’s does disclose to the Bookseller that they sold almost 30,000 Sony Readers in the UK since the device went on sale there in September.Release Also in the UK, Bloomsbury issued a nonspecific trading update that says activity “was in line with management’s expectations” and they expect to have cash at the end of the fiscal […]