He is the chain’s fourth chief executive since 2013, after Mr. Boire, who received $4.8 million in a separation agreement; Michael P. Huseby, who resigned in July 2015, became executive chairman of Barnes & Noble Education and left with a $10.5 million severance payment; and William Lynch, who stepped down in July 2013 after pioneering the company’s disastrous digital strategy, with a severance package of $3.65 million in cash and several million dollars in stock. Barnes & Noble Names Chief Executive, Its Fourth Since 2013 - By ALEXANDRA ALTERAPRIL 27, 2017 Eight months after the bookstore chain Barnes & Noble ousted its chief executive, Ronald Boire, ending a brief, tumultuous tenure, it has hired a successor from its own ranks. Mr. Boire was abruptly ousted in August, after less than a year on the job, when board members decided he was “not a good fit for the company.” Since then, the executive chairman, Leonard Riggio, who bought the company in 1971 and built it into a national chain, has acted as chief executive, delaying his retirement. Mr. Parneros, who joined Barnes & Noble from a top executive position at Staples, is taking over at a challenging time. In an attempt to update the look and feel of its stores and experiment with new ways of attracting customers, Barnes & Noble has opened three concept stores — in Minnesota, California and New York — that are sleeker and brighter and have full-service restaurants that serve wine and beer. Demos Parneros, 55, who has acted as chief operating officer for the last five months, will take the top post, Barnes & Noble was to announce on Thursday.
