Kim Waldmann is now chief commercial officer at the outdoor retailer, which also just brought on former Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario to its board. Last year was rough at REI, which axed its experiences business, announced store closures and lost a board vote to the REI Union. Eleven REI stores have unionized so far, and the retailer’s antiunion efforts have disappointed many customers. REI, like others in the space, is also grappling with sales declines and operating losses. This year, though, the company’s board seats were filled without controversy. In fact, REI’s board has welcomed a superstar to its ranks, with former Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario elected in February. In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Waldmann hailed REI for “its market leadership, trailblazing culture and member-first approach.” “I can’t wait to be a part of this exceptional and passionate team. Here is to helping all our members and more consumers find joy and adventure in the outdoors,” she said.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for January 2021 reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (Consumer Books), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses. Total revenues across all categories for January 2021 were up 10.3% as compared to January 2020, coming in at $1.2 billion. Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 21.3% in January, coming in at $689.5 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of January, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 25.5%, coming in at $244.2 million; Paperbacks were up 17.9%, with $227.5 million in revenue; Mass Market was up 39.9% to $19.5 million; and Board Books were down 3.4%, with $17.2 million in revenue.

Amazon Web Services announced the launch of the Generative AI Partner Innovation Alliance. The Generative AI Partner Innovation Alliance will help scale and expand the reach of the Generative AI Innovation Center (GenAIIC) - a program that helps customers successfully build and deploy generative AI solutions. Initially launched in June 2023, the GenAIIC connects customers with AWS AI/ML scientists and strategy experts, and helps companies envision, identify, and develop generative AI solutions. Since its inception, the GenAIIC has helped thousands of customers, including DoorDash, Nasdaq, the PGA TOUR, achieve success with generative AI. In fact, more than 50% of the proof-of-concept solutions developed through the GenAIIC are now in production for customers.