Qualstar Corp. on Wednesday said that its board has appointed Lawrence D. Firestone as chief executive officer and president. He will succeed William J. Gervais, who is retiring next month.

The Simi Valley maker of automated tape storage solutions and high efficiency power supplies said Firestone will start his new position on June 4.

Firestone, 54, joined Qualstar’s board last May. He currently is chief financial officer of Xiotech Corp., a Colorado Springs, Colo. supplier of enterprise storage systems. He has more than 30 years of operations and financial management experience in global public and private companies, including significant turnaround and mergers and acquisition expertise. He will continue to serve on the board.

“I am pleased that Larry has agreed to assume day-to-day leadership of the company that I co-founded 28 years ago,” said Gervais in a statement. “Having worked with Larry as a member of our board, I’m confident that the company will be in good hands.”

Shares closed up 2 cents, or 1 percent, to $1.94 on the Nasdaq.