Career Path:

The Journey from Bookseller to District Manager
Pete Scott, district manager
Seattle, WA, and Alaska

As a child, Pete Scott dreamed of a future on the high seas as a navy captain. He read book after book on ships, history and nautical adventures. A passion for books grew and led Pete to another career with adventures and challenges – bookselling. 

“This business is an amazing adventure with tons of opportunities for personal and professional growth,” says Pete. “If you apply yourself and learn, the sky is the limit.”

Pete began his career during college as a part-time bookseller at Waldenbooks. Pete’s love for books was apparent, but he knew that it wasn’t enough to grow within the business. So he focused on developing management skills and gaining experiences needed to handle the daily complexities managers face. 

After 10 years with Waldenbooks, Pete joined Barnes & Noble as an assistant store manager in Midvale, UT. Through hard work and an open mind, Pete earned a promotion to store manager during his first year with the company. Pete served as store manager for eight years and is now a district manager.   

“Barnes & Noble has consistently provided an arena for me to develop my career, find solutions to challenges and to work in something that has meaning for me and other people,” Pete says.

As store manager, Pete worked at five different locations in Utah, Nevada and Washington, helping him learn how to work under a variety of conditions. In the smaller stores, Pete influenced results through strong communication, supportive behavior and assertiveness. In the superstores, he developed the ability to let his booksellers own their own projects.

For example, at the store in University Village, WA, a bookseller approached Pete with a new way to increase audiobook sales. After listening to the idea, Pete encouraged him to run with the project. The bookseller set up a mission table located near the power aisle and displayed 25 audiobook titles that had sales of one or less. Each month, he rotated the titles with 30 others. Ultimately, the project increased sales of the selected titles by 500%. 

Today, Pete doesn’t regret that he isn’t a navy captain. Instead, he revels when a store has a great business idea and he helps bring it to life.