McLemore/Hollern and Associates

Lawrence J. Hollern brings a wealth of experience from his early career as a buyer at Dayton-Hudson Department Stores to his Head Buyer position with Hastings Entertainment Group, Inc.  He lives in Amarillo, Texas, corporate headquarters for Hastings Entertainment and Anderson Merchandisers’, Inc.  His proximity to Hastings, and his knowledge of that account, provides a tremendous asset to what has proven to be a difficult account to manage. His relationship to Hastings’ staff, communication and computer inventory systems give him the ability to enhance product representation and proper placement from a merchandising and marketing standpoint. Living in Amarillo, he has developed a great relationship with Anderson Merchandisers, book purchasers for Wal-Mart, and has successfully made the transition to their new buying offices in Bentonville, Arkansas.  His influence and understanding are not limited to these two accounts but extends to others.  They include Michaels; Hobby Lobby; SLS, Enterprises; Tuesday Morning, Inc.; regional wholesalers and important independents.  His active understanding of present markets and their development proves to be a constant guiding force with McLemore/Hollern and Associates.

Sal E. McLemore has been involved in the publishing industry since 1974 with brief tenures in other fields throughout his career. From the early stages at Dolpen Books, a five store concern, in the seventies to teaming up with Belfour McMillen in the late eighties, his drive has always marched in the direction of selling and management.  Upon taking over from Belfour McMillen sales have increased dramatically over the last decade. Strategic development of accounts, not widely handled by book representatives, has been the direction most occupying his time.  This has been particularly the case with independent distributors (News Group and Anderson News) and specialized sales’ groups (P.M.G., International) along with development of regional product sales, handling of independents and management of office development.

Karen S. Winters is the third sales representative in the operation. She brings a great deal of drive and intellect with the experience starting at a very young age.  Larry supervised Karen at Hastings as a buyer.  When the opportunity came to hire her in 2001 he jumped at the chance.  Karen provides all backup for Larry at Hastings along with selling children’s and religious books to this account.  Her organizational abilities, particularly in data management and inventory systems help prevent information mishandling and loss titles in inventory.  She frequents Hastings at least once a month to work the data base and make sure titles are positioned to be purchased.  This is a wanted task with buyers having so little time for data entry and memory checks.  Aside from that, she handles some of the larger independents for McLemore/Hollern and Associates.  Her development of specialized regional wholesalers (Book Marketing Plus and Star Wholesalers), along with Book People and Whole Foods Company, have made her a vital part of the overall development program for the operation.  She also handles independents in the territory.  She lives in Round Rock, Texas just outside of Austin where Book People, Calendar Club and Whole Foods are centered.

Lisa Warner is the office administrative assistant.  Since all orders are processed from the field through laptops, Lisa handles the final, and most critical, part of order processing. Orders normally take no more than two days to be faxed to the distributor because they are emailed and downloaded from laptops while on the road.  After the data is assimilated, it is faxed to the distributor. Along with order processing, Lisa handles public relations and inquiries about specific product.  When someone calls the office, a human voice answers the phone.  Lisa also handles catalog mailings and management of incoming product along with dispersal of copies for review by accounts and inventory control.

Tricia George handles data processing for large accounts and development of the technology related areas in the office.  She has an Information Technology degree from Texas A and M University and the refinement of her skills shows by how well the office runs throughout.  Tricia handles data management for a number of accounts and the office information systems. She organizes and troubleshoots where necessary along with handling cable internet system research concerning particular markets.

Mary Whitehead handles data entry, telemarketing, email blasts, order placement and mailings (independent distributors, Hastings, Anderson Merchandisers and independent stores.)  Her capabilities in software cover the gamut of needs from handling excel spreadsheets to power point presentations.  Her telemarketing skills are vast and complete.  She understands retail from her many years of working with Kroger’s Merchandising and Customer Relations Departments.  Her affiliations with Kroger have made the difference in product presentations, product development and expansion of said areas. She has an undergraduate degree in business and is a vital part of the entire office structure.