Readers have continued to make nominations and vote on possible new Barnes & Noble CEOs with book world experience. We're happy to see so many thoughtful and detailed responses. (Our survey is open until late next week. If you haven't already, make nominations and vote here. See the results here.)
Quite a few nominees are either B&N employees or have worked there in the past. Several work or have worked at the store level:
John Mesko, B&N store manager. "He cares about the people who work for him and has enough business savvy to know what to call and when to call it. Also started on the ground level in B&N and understands how stores actually function, not how the business thinks it should function."
Lita Weissman, who worked at the B&N at the Grove in Los Angeles for six years. "Lita loves bookselling, and the Grove's location means she's worked with a stunning range of authors and personalities--her even temperament in the face of some of the strange 'talent' requests is perfectly suited to leading B&N in the vanguard against Amazon and other threats."
Jill Giordano, store manager. "Totally capable, with great ideas that she's not allowed to use. She is the best manager I've had in my 15-plus years at B&N. If I had the money, I'd open a chain and have her and other 'real' booksellers run it in a second!"
Most strikingly, the winner of numerous nominations was Heidi Fairchild, a B&N bookseller in Georgia with more than 15 years of experience at the company. She was described variously as "a master merchandiser," "bookseller extraordinaire," "funny, passionate, nerdy," "a great leader and very organized," "loved by many on the B&N Facebook group." In addition: "She understands the needs of the business, the customers, and the employees." "Exactly the kind of person every current/former employee will follow to the ends of the Earth because she's been in the trenches, knows the business backward and forward, and still manages to be positive and cover all of her responsibilities despite the lack of payroll hours and trained employees."
Among current and past executives:
Tim Mantel, chief merchandising officer at B&N, one of the current acting CEOs. "Word on the street at one publisher is that Tim is very sharp, learning quickly and given time might be the guy to put B&N on solid footing for years to come. Sounds as if he has the backing of the B&N rank and file in NYC as well."
David Cully, president of Baker and Taylor, received several nominations. Among the comments: "He's been in the book business for most of his life and even worked at B&N previously [as president of B&N Distribution]. A brilliant and creative book person." "Bonus points that his wife [Lynn Cully] is publisher at Kensington, showing that the love of book runs through the blood of his family." "He knows publishing, is creative, innovative and can make change happen fast."
Mary Amicucci, former v-p, chief merchandising officer at B&N. "She has the non-book retail experience and book retail experience that will be needed and desired for the new CEO. She has worked with almost all of the B&N buying staff (many of whom I would nominate, but they are so good at doing what they do), she has energy and drive to make things happen."
Mark Bottini, former store operations executive at B&N. "Beloved by pretty much all booksellers he met and most people in corporate. Strong and intelligent leader, military discipline, and has spent his career in books with an obvious love for the product, people and business. Unlike so many corporate lifers, he takes a very active role in listening and incorporating feedback, suggestions and the like. And he is brilliant, always three steps ahead of everyone in the room."
Patrick Maloney, executive v-p, operations, Barnes & Noble Education and president, Barnes & Noble College. "A Mr. Riggio protege and a book lover. Decades of experience and B&N culture."
Jon Anderson, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children's, received several nominations. "Knows B&N inside and out having worked there through the '80s and '90s. Understands both the retail and publishing sides of the business; has bookselling in his blood; has experience effectively running large operations; is both a numbers guys and a creative guy, and B&N badly needs both." "He began his career there and spent 17 years moving up from clerk to heading the chain's children's book buying. I can't think of anyone better."
More nominations on Monday.