Josh Mettee has sold American West Books, Sanger, Calif., which supplies books to chains such as Costco, Sam's Club, Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble, and other retailers, to Christopher Robbins, who joined the firm four years ago.
Mettee has headed the company since 1993. "I'd just turned 19 and was in my first year of college when I took over a defunct regional wholesaler," Mettee said. "It's been a great run for 24 years, and I'm looking forward to new challenges."
Robbins was previously CEO of Gibbs Smith, the Utah publisher, and is founder and publisher of independent press Familius.
Mettee will turn his attention to Hummingbird Digital Media, in which he has a controlling interest. The two-year-old company is, he says, "democratizing e-book and audiobook retailing" by supplying organizations, including bookstores, publishers, nonprofits and others, free turnkey platforms for selling digital books.
