Five months after joining Barnes & Noble Booksellers Inc. as its chief operating officer, Staples Inc. veteran Demos Parneros has been promoted to the top job.
Demos Parneros, CEO, Barnes & Noble
Parneros takes over as CEO from Barnes & Noble founder Len Riggio effective immediately. Riggio had been filling in as CEO on an interim basis since August, when the company made the decision to fire then-CEO Ron Boire after less than a year on the job. Barnes & Noble is No. 69 in the just-released Internet Retailer 2017 Top 1000.
With Parneros, the struggling bookseller gets a retail veteran who spent 30 years at office supplies giant Staples (No. 5), most recently as its president of North America and online before stepping down in January 2016. He also spent four years at Macy’s Inc. (No. 6) in the mid-1980s. Barnes & Noble hired him in November as its chief operating officer, tasked with overseeing e-commerce, merchandising and other aspects of the company’s business.
“He is highly respected by our board of directors and our leadership team, and I believe Demos is fully prepared to help foster a new era of growth for Barnes & Noble,” Riggio said.
Parneros has his work cut out for him.
According to Top500Guide.com, Barnes & Noble generated an Internet Retailer-estimated $758.4 million in online sales in 2016, down 14.4% from $886.0 million in 2015. 2016 marked the third straight year that online sales declined for Barnes & Noble. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2017 ended Jan. 28, Barnes & Noble has $3.073 billion in overall sales, down 6.5% from $3.287 billion during the same time the previous year.
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