Edelweiss+ Grows European Presence and Promotes Senior Executive to General Manager, Europe
Senior exec at Above the Treeline, the company behind the book industry’s Edelweiss+ platform, is promoted to General Manager of Europe as UK office is established
Above the Treeline, the company that provides the Edelweiss+ platform where book professionals market, sell, discover, and order new titles, has announced that executive Ruth Bradstreet has been named Managing Director of Europe. A native of Scotland, Bradstreet is relocating from the corporate office in Michigan to Glasgow. From there, she will provide on-site leadership for the company’s ongoing growth opportunities in the European market. She is charged with leading business development efforts for the Edelweiss+ platform and supporting clients across Europe.
Bradstreet has spent her career in the book industry. She has many years of experience in the bookselling world – first starting as a bookshop manager in California and then moving to work for an ePOS system. After that, Bradstreet held roles as a book buyer and a technical manager for Ingram Content Group prior to joining Above the Treeline 12 years ago.
“I’ve always loved bookselling, but I found I was most passionate about helping to make bookselling and book buying more efficient through technology – helping book professionals spend more time on the real business of connecting readers with books,” says Bradstreet.
“Meeting John Rubin and learning about his company Above the Treeline in 2007 was hugely serendipitous because it perfectly aligned with my passions. The company was very small at the time, and John shared my mission to support the important work of independent booksellers. The product was revolutionary in the bookselling world, offering independent bookshops a way to compete with the big chains by leveraging shared POS data to provide a broader view of the book industry. It’s been amazing to be part of that journey and see our product suite grow to meet the demands of book professionals across the world.”
The Edelweiss+ platform is used by over 120,000 book professionals to market, sell, discover, and order new titles. In the US, it hosts digital catalogs from all major publishers and over 95% frontlist titles. Book professionals of all types flock to Edelweiss+ to learn about pre-publication titles, download digital review copies, create orders for their shop or library, communicate with publisher sales reps, and stay on top of industry trends.
In recent years, the platform’s presence has grown significantly internationally – especially in the UK, France, and Germany. To date, the company has worked primarily through strategic partnerships to support the European market. Creating a UK office represents an increased commitment to growth.
While basic Edelweiss+ user accounts are free to users, the platform offers many paid services for publishers including review copies. Edelweiss+Analytics is an add-on module for booksellers that allows shops to simplify inventory management and benchmark their performance.
“We could not be more pleased by this development. Ruth has been an important member of our team since the early days of Edelweiss, working to bring publishers and booksellers aboard in addition to helping us build a new, unique product from the ground up. She’s worn many hats at Above the Treeline, including the Director of Client Services for several years wherein she ensured that clients of all sizes and types received top-notch service. More recently, as a Product Manager for Edelweiss+Analytics, she was instrumental in leading the development of a modernized and compelling new version of our Edelweiss+Analytics tools. No one is better poised in terms of skillset and past experiences to support and grow our European presence,” said John Rubin, Founder and CEO of Above the Treeline.
“Ruth has a diverse skill set – from sales to training and client services to technical support. But, more importantly, she is passionate about helping book professionals succeed. Europe is our fastest growing market outside of the US, and we are thrilled to meet the demand with expanded capability,” said Joe Upton, VP of Business Development at Above the Treeline.
About Above the Treeline
Edelweiss+, powered by Above the Treeline, gives over 100,000 book professionals a single source of information to sell, discover, and order new titles. The analytical and workflow tools have helped publishers, booksellers, libraries, and reviewers “work better, read more” for over 15 years. Above the Treeline is a privately-owned company based in Ann Arbor, MI. It was founded in 2002 by John Rubin, the son of an indie bookseller and grandson of a librarian, who saw an opportunity to increase business efficiency in the book industry with technical solutions. While the product functionality has grown significantly since then, the company continues to be dedicated to serving book professionals. For more information, go to http://www.abovethetreeline.com.