MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
July 26- August 2, 2006 Edition
Borders Names Two
New Vice Presidents;
Vanzura, Nasshan Depart
ANN ARBOR, MI/7/19/07-Borders Group Inc. has named two new vice presidents just days after Ric Vanzura, vice president of emerging technology, and Bill Nashan, senior vice president of trade books, announced they were leaving. Teresa Wright has been named Vice President, Merchandising, for the company’s Paperchase U.S. Division, effective July 23. Myles Romero has been appointed Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Entertainment Alliances, effective July 31. According to Borders, both are new positions within the Group.
In her new role, Wright is responsible for product procurement, inventory forecasting, assortment planning, merchandising strategies, visual presentation and marketing activities for gift and stationery items sold through Paperchase branded shops in existing U.S. Borders stores as well as products to be sold in freestanding U.S. Paperchase locations, which Borders plans to open on a limited basis later this year and in 2008. In her position, Wright collaborates with Paperchase Products Ltd., the London-based headquarters operation for Paperchase, which Borders Group acquired in 2004.
Wright comes to Borders Group from Macys, where she served as Operating Vice President of Planning for Women’s Ready To Wear since 2006. Prior to Macys, Wright held a variety of merchandising management positions at Wilsons Leather Inc. Her most recent post there was Vice President and General Manager of Merchandising and Marketing, a position she held from 2004 through 2006. Earlier in her career, Wright held buying posts at Marshall Fields/Dayton Hudson. She is a 1986 graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in communication and retail management.
Romero, as Borders Group’s new Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Entertainment Alliances, is responsible for providing strategic leadership, planning direction, and program management for all third-party marketing partnerships that Borders engages in to add meaningful customer value, distinguish the brand and achieve incremental profits.
Prior to Borders, Romero served as Director, Ford Global Branded Entertainment, for Ford Motor Company, a position he held since 2003. He was responsible for developing and running a new division within Ford to represent all of Ford Motor Company’s brandsincluding Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Roveron a global basis to the entertainment and media industries. His work included managing Ford’s sponsorship of “American Idol” and involvement with the James Bond film “Casino Royale.” Previous to that position, Romero served in various posts within Ford from 1996 on, including Manager, Marketing Leadership Program; Diversity Manager, North America; Vehicle Personalization Launch Manager; and Finance Analyst, Ford World Wide Direct Markets.
Romero earned a master’s of business administration degree in marketing from the University of Detroit in 2002 and is a 1996 graduate of the University of New Mexico, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in marketing.
“We are delighted to welcome Teresa and Myles to Borders Group,” said Chief Executive Officer George Jones. “They bring expertise and insight to two areas that are important to our execution of the company’s strategic plan for the future, which calls for us to develop Paperchase as a strong retail entity in the U.S., within and outside of Borders stores, and to drive key marketing partnerships throughout our business that will bring value to our customers and incremental revenue to our organization,” he said.
George became President and Chief Executive Officer of Borders Group, Inc. on July 17, 2006. He brings more than three decades of retail experience to the company including his most recent post as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Saks Department Store Group.
Jones has headed the company since July 2006 and less than 60 days later announced a realignment of the company’s senior management team to establish new direct reporting relationships to the CEO from leaders in marketing and merchandising, as well as a new position created to drive emerging businesses and alliances, lead company strategy development and address technology opportunities.
The vice presidential changes come on the heels of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the wildly popular Harry Potter series. Borders announced on July 22, one day afer the midnight release date that Borders and Waldenbooks stores around the globe have sold approximately 1.2 million copies of the book on its first day of sales. This is the highest single day sales of any title ever in Borders history. This first-day sales total for book seventhe final book in the Harry Potter seriescompares to 850,000 copies sold worldwide by Borders of book six, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” its first day of sales in 2005.
About Borders Group
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading global retailer of books, music and movies with more than 1,200 stores and over 32,000 employees worldwide. More information on the company is available at www.bordersgroupinc.com.
