Alliance Entertainment declined to comment on the hires.
Former Diamond VP of Sales Mike Schimmel is now the Senior VP of Sales at Alliance. Schimmel started at Diamond in 1996, after a three-year stint at Capital City Distribution, and rose through the ranks; he was promoted to VP in 2022 (see "Two New Comic Sales VPs").
The other Diamond staff now working for Alliance Entertainment include:
Ryan Shelkett, VP Purchasing; Shelkett was National Sales Manager at Diamond from 2007 to 2016, then moved to Bandai America and became Sales Manager there. He returned to Diamond in 2023 as Executive Director of Vendor Development (see "People on the Move").
Matthew Demory, Product Manager/Buyer; Demory was at Diamond for 13 years, starting in 2012 as Brand Manager – Comics and adding the title Assistant Manager, Print Team in 2021.
Lee Butman, Product Manager/Buyer; Butman spent 25 years at Diamond, most recently in the dual post of Brand Manager – Toys and Purchasing Manager – Merchandise.
Joe Lunday, Director of Collectible Sales; Lunday started at Diamond in 1998 as Customer Service Representative, rose to Sales Manager, left for a few months in 2022 for a post as Sales Manager at Amazon, and returned to Diamond in November 2022 as Director of E-commerce Sales.
Trista Peterson, Sales Director – Collectibles; after stints at Zale, Hot Topic, and THG, Peterson moved to Diamond in April 2023 as National and Outreach Sales Manager.
Brennan West, Product Manager; West started at Diamond as Sales Administrative Assistant in 2017 and was promoted to Purchasing Brand Manager five months later.
Alliance was the top bidder in the Diamond bankruptcy auction but dropped its bid and sued Diamond after learning that Diamond’s game distributor had lost one of its biggest suppliers, Wizards of the Coast (see "Alliance Entertainment Sues Diamond, Again"). The backup bidders in the bankruptcy auction, Universal Distribution and Ad Populum, finalized the purchase of the Diamond companies in May 2025 (see "Comic Executive, Others, Laid Off at Diamond").