Barnes & Noble has laid off a number of employees in a recent reorganization.
The bookseller would not reveal how many employees were laid off, but Publishers Weekly had this estimate about the layoffs: “reports say about 45 to 50 positions in the buying group were eliminated.” Confirmed cuts included merchandising vice president Bob Wietrak and small press and vendor relations director Marcella Smith.
Here’s more from the article: “Publishers were shook by the news with the larger publishers wondering who would oversee merchandising, while smaller presses questioned who would be looking out for their interests. The growth in digital is great, one publisher noted, but added ‘someone has to be in charge of getting books into the stores.'”