Beginning July 1, 2000, HarperCollins will take over the U.S. customer service, billing and credit functions for Scholastic's trade business under a new long-term agreement. Those functions are currently being handled by Penguin.
Scholastic Children's Books president Barbara Marcus cited HC's state-of-the-art systems as a major factor in making the move. "Scholastic believes that HarperCollins's systems are an excellent complement to our trade growth strategy," Marcus said. According to Marcus, HC technology will support Scholastic's plans to continue "to innovate, create new areas of trade revenue and better serve our customers." HC president Jane Friedman told PW she was "pleased that Scholastic has chosen HarperCollins for this aspect of their business."
