Borders CFO adds COO to title

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Borders Group has announced that its Mark Bierley will now serve as Chief Operating Officer for Borders, in addition to continuing as Chief Financial Officer for Borders Group, the parent company of Borders.

 In his dual role of CFO and COO, Bierley now oversees finance, IT, merchandising planning and supply chain, as well as real estate and strategic planning. Rosalind Thompson has been named SVP human resources for Borders Group, effective July 6.

"Mark has been an exceptional CFO in what has been a difficult and change-heavy environment at Borders. He's successfully led two financing programs that have strengthened the company's financial position and he's helped oversee the planning and execution of a number of key strategic initiatives. Mark is well respected in the financial community and has been vital in establishing ongoing positive relationships with our banking and vendor partners. I look forward to working with Mark in his new role where I know he'll leverage both his knowledge and talents to rebuild the Borders brand," said Borders CEO Mike Edwards.

Bierley started his career at Borders as manager, store inventory control in 1996 and was promoted a year later to director of inventory control. He was named VP financial planning and reporting in 2003, a post he held for four years before being named SVP finance in 2007. He was named EVP and CFO in January 2009.