800-CEO-READ Announces Company Name Change to Porchlight

800-CEO-READ Announces Company Name Change to Porchlight

New brand and website support bulk bookseller in expansion beyond the business genre

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – August 7, 2019 – 800-CEO-READ, the industry leader in bulk book sales, announced today a company name change to Porchlight Book Company on August 19, 2019.

Formerly known as Schwartz Business Books, Business Literacy Services, and Dickens Books, LTD, the company was created by Jack Covert and David Schwartz in 1984 from the business book section of the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop on Fifth and Wisconsin in downtown Milwaukee. Since that time, the company has built a reputation for excellence in bulk book sales and customer service. All previous names of the company will be retired. Porchlight will remain in Milwaukee under the ownership of Rebecca Schwartz (Milwaukee) and Carol Grossmeyer (Seattle).

“I am delighted to be a part of this new chapter in my family’s bookselling story,” said Rebecca Schwartz, owner, president, and CEO. “I am certain that my grandfather, Harry W. Schwartz, and my dad, A. David Schwartz, would be so very pleased by the work we continue to do, work that in a very real way grew out of their legacies.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of the team and how hard they’ve worked to evolve the company I started with David Schwartz,” said founder Jack Covert. “I love retirement, but I do miss being with this remarkable group of people every day as they take the business to a new level.”

In addition to the new name and brand, the company is also launching a new website to better support services for publishers, authors, publicists, agents, and bulk book buyers. Porchlight employed Hanson Dodge, an award-winning marketing agency based in Milwaukee, for both the branding and technical side of the new launch.

“For many years now, we have sold more than just business books, and this brand expansion and comprehensive website will give us the chance to introduce more people to the array of high-touch bookselling services we have developed over the years,” said Sally Haldorson, General Manager. “As a group of voracious readers, there’s nothing we enjoy more than putting books into the hands of every type or genre of reader.”

To reflect the expansion beyond business books, the company will publish two monthly bestseller lists; one for business bestsellers and one for general non-fiction. In addition, the company’s editorial coverage will also expand beyond their long-held expertise in the business genre to be able to shine a wider spotlight on the publishing industry. Weekly editorial coverage (found at porchlightbooks.com/blog) will now feature all genres for in-depth book reviews, excerpts, books to watch, and more. The annual Business Book Awards will continue, with the call for entries opening on Monday, August 26th.

“The idea that everything—from government and healthcare to education and even our personal lives—should be run like a business, driven by the bottom line, has come to dominate our culture over the past 40 years,” said Editorial Director, Dylan Schleicher. “As a company that has focused on business books and thinking over that time, we’ve come to believe a better approach is to bring the richness of the rest of our lives into business, to inform our organizations and our work with more holistic, human values.”

More about the name change can be found at porchlightbooks.com, or by contacting Marketing Director Blyth Meier.