Rebecca Schwartz will become the chief executive officer of 800-CEO-READ, a Milwaukee-based bulk seller of business books.
Schwartz is currently board chair of 800-CEO-READ. She will succeed Carol Grossmeyer as CEO on Sept. 1. Grossmeyer will become the new board chair.
800-CEO-READ was created out of the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops by the late David Schwartz and now-retired Jack Covert in 1984. It remains the lone Schwartz property following the closing of the brick-and-mortar stores in 2009.
Rebecca Schwartz is the daughter of David Schwartz and granddaughter of company founder Harry Schwartz. She has been involved with the family business since childhood and was director of marketing and advertising for all five of the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops from 1988-91.
“I am very much looking forward to this next chapter in my professional life, returning to the world in which I grew up and that my grandparents and father devoted their lives,” she said. “Working with the smart and experienced people at 800-CEO-READ is an exciting and wonderful opportunity to continue the Schwartz legacy of bookselling.”
Grossmeyer was hired by David Schwartz in 1975 as a bookseller, and married him in 1983. David Schwartz died in 2004. Grossmeyer became CEO of Schwartz Bookshops, and subsequently 800-CEO-READ, in 2007.
“800-CEO-READ is as much a reflection of the kind of company that David Schwartz intended as were the bookshops. David would be proud,” said Grossmeyer. “It was an honor to accompany Jack (Covert) and all the wonderful people at 800-CEO-READ on this journey of regrowth and I am pleased to be able to pass the mantle into the capable hands of Rebecca Schwartz.”
