Follett combines wholesale, retail operations

PRNewswire

OAK BROOK — Follett Higher Education Group said it will combine its wholesale and retail operations to unify and expand access to its course material selection.

The announcement reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to provide customers with industry-leading retail solutions and positions the organization for continued growth.

“Our goal is to anticipate and meet our customer’s needs,” said Tom Christopher, president of Follett Higher Education Group. “This new approach creates a tighter integration of our core business and builds on our tradition of providing our customers with the very best in collegiate retail.”

The unification comes on the heels of Follett’s announcement that it has invested $30 million in a new distribution center that will house both wholesale and retail inventory. The new facility will feature material handling technology from Kiva Systems, Inc. The system uses hundreds of mobile robots that pick up and move inventory pods directly to order pickers. This “goods-to-person” technology will increase productivity, improve accuracy and enable a level of customer service unprecedented in the industry. The distribution facility, coupled with Follett’s new structure, will result in enhanced inventory management and improved access for customers.

Steve Pribyl will serve as Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations to bring common leadership across Follett’s retail and wholesale business operations, sales and distribution services. Pribyl, a 30 year veteran of the company, brings experience in operational execution from his previous role as a store operations and sales leader.

“Steve is passionate about serving our customers and about the success of our business,” said Christopher. “I am confident in his strong leadership and his proven management skills.”

Bob Scholl, who will report to Pribyl, was named Senior Vice President, Retail Operations. Scholl will oversee all of Follett’s store operations in the United States and Canada. Scholl has been with the company for 13 years, during which time he’s grown sales and profitability for the company’s western operations.

Brit Hinton will take on the role of Vice President, Wholesale and Follett Virtual Bookstore operations. Hinton currently heads the company’s FVB operations and will draw on his previous experience as Senior Vice President of Wholesale to better align Follett’s wholesale and FVB operations for a more centralized customer service strategy.

To further leverage the reach of sales groups, Follett’s retail and virtual sales teams will also come together. Pat Usher, Vice President and Director of Marketing, North America will assume responsibility for both retail and FVB.