Universal Studios (Universal City, Calif.) has named entertainment retail veteran John Scales vp, retail operations, for Universal Studios Hollywood. Scales will be responsible for the operation of the theme park's 22 retail locations, as well as concession retail businesses.
Scales spent the previous five years with video retailer Hollywood Entertainment Corp. (Wilsonville, Ore.), the video rental industry's second-largest organization with some 1800 rental superstores. As zone vp, his responsibilities included the strategic direction of over 350 stores.
Prior to that, Scales held management positions at Video City (Bakersfield, Calif.), a 40-store rental chain, and Blockbuster Video (Dallas), the industry leader. He began his career as an assistant store manager at Wherehouse Entertainment Corp. (Torrance, Calif.), eventually rising through the ranks to senior vp, company operations.