Joseph-Beth Booksellers president/CEO loses job. Store future is unknown.

Mark Wilson lost his job as president and chief executive officer of Joseph-Beth Booksellers’ corporate office in Cincinnati on Friday.

Wilson confirmed that he will no longer be working for Joseph-Beth after a 12-year career there.

Robert Langley, whose company Langley Properties gained control of the three remaining stores in the bookstore chain in a bankruptcy auction in 2011, could not be reached for comment. Langley Properties owns Lexington Green.

Wilson, reached at Joseph-Beth corporate offices in Cincinnati, said: “Until I sort through a few things I would prefer not to make any comment.”

“I love Joseph-Beth,” he added. “It is an incredible journey, the last 12 years.” Wilson’s LinkedIn profile said he was “brought in to restructure a struggling retail business. We continue to redefine the business on an ongoing basis in order to compete. Change is a constant in retail.”

Whether Wilson’s departure will affect the futures of any of the three stores, including the centerpiece Joseph-Beth store at Lexington Green, could not be determined.

Joseph-Beth opened in a 6,000 square foot space in Lexington Green in 1986, later moving to a 42,000 square foot center space.