Barnes & Noble Education Inc., a Basking Ridge-based provider for the education industry, announced Tuesday some leadership changes in Retail unit.
Jonathan Shar has been named to executive vice president, retail and client solutions, responsible for the overall growth and profitability of the segment; and Lisa Malat has been appointed to president of Barnes & Noble College, tasked with the overall growth and profitability of BNC, providing direction and operational leadership across the business.
The pair will continue to report directly to Michael P. Huseby, CEO and chairman of BNED.
“Both Lisa and Jonathan have made significant contributions to our company as we’ve evolved our offerings to best serve our rapidly changing Retail market,” Huseby said. “Since joining BNED in 2018, Jonathan has contributed significantly to our current strategy and has also brought essential customer and product perspectives to our team. He has led the development and implementation of valuable new solutions, including our new Adoption & Insights Portal, and continues to lead the design of our new e-commerce delivery system. His product delivery and personal engagement have also significantly contributed to our success in gaining new business.”
“Lisa has been a key contributor to BNC for more than two decades. She became chief operating officer of BNC in 2018, and, since that time, she has been instrumental in developing our new go-to-market strategy, which has proven very effective in driving new business growth. She has led the development and implementation of our strategy for a reimagined omnichannel collegiate retail experience and continues to lead our strategy to accelerate growth in general merchandise, one of the largest revenue opportunities for the company. During a challenging time in our retail business, Lisa has demonstrated strong strategic and operational leadership that will greatly benefit the teams she will now lead that directly serve our campus partners and students,” he said.
BNED also announced that Barry Brover’s roles at executive vice president, operations of BNED and executive vice president of BNC have been eliminated and he is leaving the company at the end of its fiscal year.
“On behalf of the entire BNED goard and management team, I would like to thank Barry for his many contributions over his 34 years of service to BNED,” Huseby said. “Barry has been an important part of BNED’s evolution from the very early successes of BNC to BNED’s more recent transition from a private to a public company. His financial and operational leadership truly helped advance BNED’s mission and our ability to better serve our campus partners, faculty, students, employees and other stakeholders. We are grateful that Barry has agreed to work with our management team through the end of the fiscal year to ensure a smooth transition, and we wish him only the best in his future endeavors.”
