Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced that James Lampassi has been named Vice President, Real Estate Development. Mr. Lampassi, whose appointment is effective July 31, will report directly to Demos Parneros, Chief Executive Officer. In his new role, Mr. Lampassi will have responsibility for developing and executing the real estate strategy as well as lead store development and construction initiatives. The Company said that David Deason will step down from his current role as Vice President, Development, and enter into a consulting agreement with a guaranteed term through the end of the year, which could be extended further.

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Barnes & Noble today named James Lampassi as Vice President of Real Estate Development. (Photo: Busi ...

Barnes & Noble today named James Lampassi as Vice President of Real Estate Development. (Photo: Business Wire)

“Jim brings a wealth of real estate experience across major retailers including Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond and Office Depot, to what is a critical role at Barnes & Noble,” said Mr. Parneros. “I strongly believe that we have the best possible person to help take our stores into the future and grow the business.”

“I also want to thank David for his leadership and outstanding contributions to the company over these past 27 years,” Mr. Parneros added. “I look forward to having David stay on as a consultant providing strategic guidance on our existing portfolio of stores and looking for new store opportunities.”

Mr. Lampassi joins the Company from Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc., where he served as Vice President, Real Estate and Construction, in a retail organization with $4.5B in sales and more than 1,440 stores. He led a team of 80 professional site selectors, construction project managers, lease administrators, energy managers, architects and store maintenance managers. The company added nearly 700 stores during Mr. Lampassi’s tenure. He also served as Chairman of Petco’s Real Estate Committee.

Mr. Lampassi has a rich history of retail experience, beginning his career at Grossman’s, Inc., as a Location Research Analyst. He went on to Marshalls, Inc., where he began his 11-year career as a Senior Location Analyst and rose to Manager of Market and Location Research, Regional Real Estate Director of the Western United States, and the Regional Real Estate Director for New England. He also held leadership roles in the real estate segments of Office Depot, Inc., Extended Stay America, Inc., Zoots Corporation and Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., before coming to Petco, where he has served as Vice President, Real Estate and Construction, for the past 10 years.

Mr. Lampassi currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the International Council of Shopping Centers, of which he has been an active member for more than 25 years. He is a graduate of Salem State University with a Bachelor of Science in Geography, Urban Planning. He has an Executive Master’s in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College of California.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is the world’s largest bookseller, and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The Company operates 633 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 4.5 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® and Barnes & Noble.com® are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. or its affiliates. NOOK® and the NOOK logos are trademarks of Nook Digital, LLC or its affiliates.

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