Powell's Books, Portland, Ore., quietly hired David Maquera as CEO in September, replacing former CEO Patrick Bassett, who has apparently left the company, according to Willamette Week, following a report from the Portland Business Journal.
Powell's hired Bassett, "a veteran business consultant," in the fall of 2020 after he had worked for the bookseller as an adviser for several months, coinciding with the beginning of the pandemic.
Powell's declined to provide access to or any information about the new CEO to local media, and Myka Dubay, the union representative for International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5, the Powell's union, said Maquera has not attended any regular meetings between the union and the company.
A LinkedIn profile for Dave Maquera, likely the same person, stated that he received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard and was formerly CEO of ecoATM Gazelle. He described himself as a "private equity backed CEO" with expertise in "turnaround leadership" and "strategic acquisitions."
The CEO change comes at a difficult time for Powell's, which has had four rounds of layoffs this year, amounting to 31 staff members. A month ago, Jeremy Solly, Powell's chief marketing officer, explained the cutbacks this way: "As with many businesses right now, we're seeing expenses rise faster than sales. This has been an ongoing challenge since the pandemic, and while we've taken many steps to grow revenue and control costs, this most recent action was an unfortunate but necessary step to help ensure the long-term stability of Powell's Books."