She will be responsible for merchandising, marketing, engineering and product development. She had been CFO since April of 1999.

Treasurer Kevin Frain was named vice president for finance and will take over Toulantis' functions as chief financial officer. He continues to report to Toulantis.

The company said Toulantis, who oversaw the company's initial public offering in May 1999, will continue to have responsibility for the company's corporate communications, human resources and other administrative functions, reporting to Steve Riggio, vice chairman of Barnes & Noble.com.

Prior to joining Barnes & Noble in 1997, Toulantis was a senior vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank.

Meanwhile, Carl Rosendorf, the company's executive vice president for e-commerce, will leave later this month to become the chief executive officer of SmartBargains.com, an online retail liquidator based in Boston.