Dive Brief:

• Sears Canada CEO Ron Boire has jumped to Barnes & Noble to be its new CEO as the bookseller plans to spin off its education business. 

• Boire spent just 10 months as CEO of Sears Canada, which has seen faltering sales and a failed auction that would have separated it from parent company Sears Holdings Corp.

• Boire has been a top executive at Best Buy, Sony Electronics, and Toys 'R' Us, and was previously chief merchant at Sears and Kmart in the U.S. and CEO at gadget retailer Brookstone.

Dive Insight:

Just months ago, the expectation was that Barnes & Noble would spin off its weak Nook unit — that is until the announcement that it would separate its education business in February. CEO Michael Huseby, whom Boire is replacing, will lead that business. 

The choice of Boire, who has experience with retail and electronics, could mean that Barnes & Noble still has hope for Nook, which has seen its fortunes fall even as those of Amazon’s similar Kindle have flourished.

About a year ago the bookseller announced a deal with Samsung, which has taken on manufacturing and research and development of the device, but it has yet to achieve the retailer’s e-book ambitions. Still, its brick-and-mortar business is fairly healthy and it’s made noteworthy improvements to its online business with a redesigned website announced late last month. Though Nook’s Q1 sales fell 40% in Q1 and 48% for the last full fiscal year, losses there have narrowed.

Meanwhile, Sears Canada is once again searching for a CEO, something it’s had to do three times now in the past two years. Chairman of the board Brandon G. Stranzl has been named executive chairman there effective immediately.