MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
April 15-30, 2004 Edition
Baker & Taylor
to Shut Distribution
Unit, Ingram Jumps In
04/09/04—Baker & Taylor, while continuing its wholesale fulfillment operations as usual, will shut down its year-old Distribution Solutions Group. At the same time, Ingram Book Group, which has been out the distribution business for a good while, will jump back in to offer a new fee-based distribution service for publishers.
Ingram has hired Borders vice president Phil Ollila to start its new distribution unit.
Apparently the new Ingram unit will offer publishers order-taking services, for orders generated both directly from the publisher and via Ingram. The group also will offer sales services for publishers who have no sales force. Publishers likely will be charged to store their inventory on a per unit basis, and additional fees for order entry and sales services. No launch date for the Ingram distribution service has been announced.
Phil Ollila spent 12 years at Borders, most recently as vice president of category marketing. He is the third executive to leave Borders in recent months, following departures of Tamara Heim, president of Borders U.s.stoes, and Marilyn Slankard, director of marketing. Ollila and Slankard are married.
