DEMOS PARNEROS

FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER 

Demos Parneros brings his extensive corporate management experience in the retail and e-commerce space to Brightside, having driven the growth, profitability and business transformation for a number of large companies. Additionally, he is an active investor in and advisor to a number of early-stage companies.

Demos Parneros most recently was CEO of Barnes & Noble where he developed a strategic turnaround plan to address declining sales, profits and market share at the Fortune 500 bookseller. Before joining Barnes & Noble, Demos Parneros was President, North American Stores & Online at Staples where he worked for 28 years and also led a retail/e-tail transformation plan that included developing flexible, higher-profit store formats and new services at more than 1,800 stores. He began his career in the executive training program at Macy’s New York. 

Demos has been on the Modell’s Board of Advisors since 2012, and served on the boards at Barnes & Noble and KeyCorp where he was also on the Risk Committee. He was an executive partner to the board at Staples as well as a member of the Staples Foundation for Learning board.  Demos received a Bachelor of Science in Management from New York University and participated in the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.