Interim Borders CEO Gets the Job for Real

Updated
Borders Group named its new CEO
Borders Group named its new CEO

Just two weeks after a $25 million cash infusion from new chairman Bennett LeBow, struggling book retailer Borders (BGP) has solidified its top executive branch.

The company announced in a statement Thursday that LeBow adds the title of chief executive officer, Borders Group, while Mike Edwards, who was the interim company head since January, gets a permanent job -- sort of.

Edwards will report to LeBow as president of Borders Group and is now CEO of Borders, the main company subsidiary, responsible for running store operations.

Musical Chairs to Stop?

The company could use some semblance of stability at the top. Edwards, who originally joined Borders last September, was the third chief executive in two years, replacing Ron Marshall, who decamped for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (GAP) to become its CEO. Marshall, a private equity executive with previous experience turning around companies, in turn had replaced George Jones, who left the company in January 2009.

But the second-largest book retailer can't rest easy for long, what with the looming specter of a string of bad quarterly earnings, skepticism about its e-reader sales plans and a general lack of focus about how to turn the company around, yet again.

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