Press Release: Barnes & Noble Launches Restaurant Group; New Bookstores Will Focus on Enhanced Restaurant Experience

NEW YORK — June 23, 2016 – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the nation’s largest retail bookseller and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced two executive appointments: Jaime Carey, currently Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to President of Development & Restaurant Group, effective immediately, and Michael Ladd has been named Vice President, Stores. Both Mr. Carey and Mr. Ladd, whose appointment is effective June 27, will report to Ron Boire, Chief Executive Officer.

In his new role, Mr. Carey will be responsible for overseeing real estate development and the newly created Restaurant Group. “We have a tremendous real estate portfolio and the very best real estate team in retail led by David Deason, our VP of Development, said Mr. Boire. “Jaime’s promotion underscores the importance of having a leader devoted to our new store concepts with a focus on an enhanced restaurant experience.” Mr. Boire announced that Barnes & Noble would open four new concept stores in Fiscal 2017, complete with a new restaurant featuring an expanded menu along with a beer and wine offering. In addition to opening the first new store in Eastchester, NY, this October, the Company plans to open stores at the Edina Galleria in Edina, MN, at the Palladio in Folsom, CA, and at One Loudon in Loudon, VA.

Mr. Carey first joined Barnes & Noble in 2003 as Director of Newsstand, and was promoted to Vice President. In May 2008, Mr. Carey was named Chief Merchandising Officer overseeing merchandising and product development. He was instrumental in the company’s successful expansion into non-book categories, including Toys & Games, Gift and Vinyl. All of these departments experienced double-digit comp growth during his tenure. In July 2015, Mr. Carey was promoted to Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for overseeing merchandising, marketing, e-commerce, NOOK® and proprietary publishing.

Mr. Ladd joins Barnes & Noble from Sears Holding Corporation where he was Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Stores. He began his 24-year career at Sears as Store Manager in 1996, working his way up the ranks to District Manager, National Sales Director, Regional Director, and Vice President to his current role as Senior Vice President, with responsibility for the entire field and home office support organization of a $13 billion retail organization with 720 stores.

“Mike is an accomplished leader with a proven track record for driving results,” said Mr. Boire.  “We think he is the perfect addition to our management team given his broad range of retail capabilities.”

In his new role, Mr. Ladd will have responsibility for the entire retail store organization and profitable growth of the business, driving sales, training, developing talent and recruitment. He is a cum laude graduate of Miami University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Psychology.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is a Fortune 500 company, the nation’s largest retail bookseller, and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products.  The Company operates 640 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s premier e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com).  The Nook Digital business offers a lineup of popular NOOK® tablets and eReaders and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store®. The NOOK Store features more than 4 million digital books in the US (www.nook.com), plus periodicals and comics, and offers the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps™ available for Android™, iOS® and Windows®.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained by visiting the Company's corporate website at www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

Barnes & Noble®, Barnes & Noble Booksellers®, Barnes & Noble.com® and Discover Great New Writers® are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. or its affiliates. NOOK® and the NOOK logos are trademarks of Nook Digital, LLC or its affiliates.