Stamford, CT—Computer cataloger PC Connection has a new CEO: Kenneth Koppel, who has served as a consultant to the Merrimack, NH-based reseller since 1993. Koppel replaces cofounder Patricia Gallup, who will remain chairman and focus on long-term strategy. Koppel is a former priesident of Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. and Ziff Communications.
In March, the $1.45 billion PC Connection announced that it would lay off 125 employees, or 7.5% of its workforce. The company’s first-quarter net sales fell 10%, to $301.8 million. Including the one-time $851,000 charge related to the layoffs, net income plunged 66%, from $7.1 million to $2.4 million. More recently, on May 30, PC Connection announced plans to buy Cyberian Outpost, a Kent, CT-based online electronics and computers marketer.
On the West Coast, Tom Bazzone has resigned as president/chief operating officer of San Francisco-based gifts cataloger Red Envelope to join home furnishings cataloger/retailer Restoration Hardware as executive vice president/chief operating officer. Bazzone will also join the board of directors of Corte Madera, CA-based Restoration Hardware.
Prior to joining Red Envelope, Bazzone was an executive at multititle cataloger/retailer Williams-Sonoma. His new boss, Restoration Hardware CEO Gary Friedman, is also a Williams-Sonoma alum: Friedman, who joined Restoration in March, had been Williams-Sonoma’s president/chief operating officer.