Ronald D. Boire stepped down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Barnes & Noble after less than a year of service. Boire is the third CEO to leave Barnes & Noble in the past three years. His successor, Michael P. Huseby, resigned to take up the position of executive chairman of B&N in 2015. Barnes & Noble issued this statement Tuesday, Aug. 16: “The Board of Directors determined that Mr. Boire was not a good fit for the organization and that it was in the best interests of all parties for him to leave.”
Leonardo Riggio, Barnes & Noble’s founder and executive chairman, had planned to retire next month, but instead will postpone that in order to work with the company until someone is appointed to replace Boire.
Barnes & Noble is suffering. Amazon has been beating the country’s largest bookstore chain for a few years with their cheaper prices and easier access. B&N stores have shrunk from 720 to 640 across the nation. Sources say that Boire, who has worked top spots at companies such as Sears Canada, Brookstone, and Toys “R” Us, had made several attempts to expand B&N’s target group with toys, board games, art supplies, and music. He even offered coding and 3D printing workshops.
The kicker: his methods were working. “On corporate earning calls, Mr. Boire often talked about how strong sales of coloring books and vinyl records were bolstering revenue,” reported CNN. Due to this, B&N managed to gain some economic stability. They were planning on opening four new retail stores in 2017. Despite these apparent improvements in the company, B&N still felt the need to make a change in leadership.
Barnes & Noble has not appointed a new CEO as of yet.