Anna Porter, CEO of Key Porter Books, has resigned as a board member of Pegasus Wholesale, Canada's largest national book wholesaler, majority-owned by Chapters Inc.
Porter, at the launch of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction, refused to comment on her resignation, but Dennis Zook, president and CEO of Pegasus, said that it came as no surprise to those on the inside. "My understanding was that she felt under pressure from some of her other customers as a result of being on our board and for that reason felt she wanted to reconsider," Zook told PW. Porter's position on the board had not been filled at press time.
Booksellers have been wary of Pegasus since it opened for business as a separate company from Chapters in May. Many feared its ties to Chapters would tilt the market even more in the chain's favor by giving it increased discounts and preferential treatment.
Zook said that Pegasus is still working on signing publishers; although the company has made proposals to libraries, national retailers and one regional retailer, its major clients remain Chapters Inc. and Chapters Online. The wholesaler offers more than 400,000 titles and its priority is to purchase products from a Canadian source.
