William Lynch Becomes New Barnes & Noble (BKS) CEO

Bloomberg reports that William Lynch has been named as the new CEO by bookstore chain Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS). Barnes & Noble, which is the largest bookstore chain in the U.S., promoted Lynch, 39, from his current position as head of its website to give a push to digital retail.

In a statement released on Thursday, the company said that Steve Riggio, its former CEO and brother of founder Leonard Riggio, will continue in his position as Vice Chairman at the company. Lynch joined Barnes & Noble back in February 2009 and facilitated the launch of the company’s Nook electronic reader. The company has been looking to expand its digital sales and has also created a position to look after the development of paid digital content. “My appointment is evidence how big we see the digital future,” said Lynch in a telephonic interview.

Standard & Poor’s analyst, Michael Souers said, “It’s a daunting challenge with the competitors already in the marketplace. Amazon is a major player, Sony, and now Apple is competing in the space.” According to the Association of American Publishers, digital books constituted 3.3% of U.S. book sales in 2009.

In another move, Barnes & Nobles’ COO, Mitchell Klipper, was appointed to the new position of CEO of the retail group. Klipper, in his new role, will be in charge of the main Barnes & Noble chain and its college bookstores.

Shares of Barnes & Noble closed 1.12% higher at $22.58 and were up 0.66% to $22.73 in after-hours trading on Thursday in New York.