Randall Beek, longtime president and CEO of Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, resigned from the distributor last week. The Consortium board said that it has accepted Beek's resignation "with regret and with great thanks." To succeed Beek, the board has appointed co-presidents: former sales director Julie Schaper has been named president of sales, marketing and publisher relations, while Peter Heege, the company's CFO, will assume the title of president of finance and operations. Both will report directly to the board.
Under Beek, who came to Consortium from Bookpeople in 1992, the company became one of the country's leading independent book distributors, representing more than 70 publishers. The company has a 50,000-square-foot warehouse in St. Paul, Minn., 40 employees and annual sales of more than $12 million. "We're looking forward to keeping things moving forward and putting our own imprimatur on the company," Schaper told PW.
Beek's resignation came shortly after the announcement that Consortium owner Bill Brinton has put the company up for sale (News, Oct. 22). The two announcements capped a flurry of recent changes at Consortium. The company has installed new people in a number of top sales and marketing positions: Susan Doerr has assumed the job of marketing manager, Jim Nichols has taken over as sales and marketing director, and John Hays is a recent addition, hired as manager of national accounts.
