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Right Stuf President, Co-Founder Shawne Kleckner Leaves Right Stuf/Crunchyroll

In an email sent to Crunchyroll staff and shared with Anime News Network, anime retailer Right Stuf president and co-founder Shawne Kleckner told fellow employees this week that he will leave Right Stuf and Crunchyroll on December 14. He expressed his confidence in the current Right Stuf management team at Crunchyroll.

Kleckner's friend Todd Ferson launched Right Stuf initially as a shell company to purchase telescopes at wholesale prices. (At that point, the company's name was still spelled as "The Right Stuff," a reference to the film of the same name.) Ferson and Kleckner then renamed the company to Right Stuf in 1987, after the company acquired its first anime license Astro Boy.

Since the company's inception, Kleckner has overseen the company through its many developments, including the launching of its website in 1994, the founding of the company's Nozomi Entertainment production label in 2007, and most recently Sony and Crunchyroll's acquisition of the company.

In his internal email to staff announcing his departure, Kleckner highlighted the customer-focused approach that he maintained at the company, which he refers to as "Super Service." He said that Right Stuf has maintained a reputation of personalized customer response, as well as secure packaging and shipping to customers.

Crunchyroll announced on August 4 earlier this year that it has acquired Right Stuf to expand its eCommerce service. Kleckner and the Right Stuf team then joined Crunchyroll's Emerging Businesses organization, led by Terry Li.