News

Carpenter Leaving Christian Distribution Services
Jim Milliot -- 10/16/00
Larry Carpenter will step down as chairman of Christian Distribution Services this week.



Larry Carpenter will step down as chairman of Christian Distribution Services this week. The brainchild of BookWorld founder Ron Smith, CDS was established about one year ago to distribute Christian books and related materials to religion and secular stores alike (News, Oct. 25, 1999).

Carpenter told PW he decided to leave the company after one year because "I'm ready to make a transition." Carpenter has no definite plans, although he said that he is "mulling over different opportunities." Carpenter joined CDS after resigning as president of Spring Arbor, Ingram's Christian-book distributor subsidiary.

With Carpenter's departure, Smith will take over direct, daily management of CDS, which is a division of BookWorld. In addition, Jerei Ellen Keough, a former BookWorld regional sales manager, has been named CDS publisher representative and will be the contact for CDS client publishers. Both Smith and Keough will work to recruit new CDS clients, a task that had fallen primarily to Carpenter. Smith is also closing CDS's Nashville offices and moving all operations to BookWorld's Sarasota, Fla., headquarters, although the distribution center will remain in La Vergne, Tenn. Smith said that CDS is now operating profitably, and he hopes to double the size of CDS's roster, which now has about 40 publishers. Smith also announced a new sales alignment in which Nigel Yorwerth will call on major accounts in the North and Pat Troutman will sell to Southern accounts.

Client Concern
Debra Hampton, director of marketing for Thomas More, CDS's biggest client, said Carpenter's departure caught her by surprise. "We're hopeful the company will move forward," Hampton said, noting that "the proof will be how they handle our two big books [Good Marriages Just Don't Happen and Forever Young, the authorized biography of Loretta Young] for the fall."