Angus MacDonell, director of the Huntley Bookstore of the Claremont University Consortium (CUC) in Glendora, California, takes over as the manager of the Kenyon College Bookstore on Aug. 1, 2015.
Mark Kohlman, chief business officer, said MacDonell has the right combination of skills and vision for the position. “He has years of experience running a trade book store and a college bookstore, most recently for the Claremont University Consortium serving schools such as Pomona College, Pitzer College and Claremont McKenna College,” Kohlman said.
The CUC is an alliance of seven higher education institutions that also works as a central coordinating agency, providing an array of services including bookstores. “I think MacDonell understands on a bigger scale working for a liberal arts college. He knows the environment and the kind of place that we’re trying to maintain here,” Kohlman said.
MacDonell said his goal is to make the store even better. “I see a lot of history and pride and quality,” he said. “One of my missions is to promote the brand of Kenyon.”
He has been store director since 2009 at the Huntley Bookstore, where he was responsible for retail textbook, general merchandise and Apple sales. Prior to that, he worked as the general manager at a Borders bookstore in Pico Rivera, California, where he said he increased sales and profits and recruited authors for in-store events.
A longtime California resident, MacDonell says he is looking forward to moving to Gambier. “It is pretty close to paradise,” he said.