“In one of current Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first major missteps, the long-time operations maestro hired John Browett, formerly of Dixons, to run retail,” Mark Gurman reports for 9to5Mac. “Browett’s hire was immediately met with skepticism from Apple customers and retail employees, but Cook defended the hire and called the British executive the ‘best [choice] by far’ to run Apple’s retail division. In the six months that he ran retail, Browett cut back on employee hours, initiated layoffs, and fell out culturally with the rest of the Apple executive team.”
“Alongside Scott Forstall, Browett was ejected from the Cupertino-based company, leaving Tim Cook and head-hunting firm Egon Zehnder, again, with the tall task of finding a suitable replacement for Ron Johnson,” Gurman reports. “Last year, finally reaching the end of a Steve Jobs-created roadmap for the future, the ousting of multiple top executives, several new hires, and the re-architecting of marketing strategies, Cook had the unique opportunity to select a new person to run Apple retail in their own image with absolutely no strings attached to retail outlet behemoths. After a several month search, he picked Angela Ahrendts, who was serving as CEO of London-based Burberry at the time.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
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When is Angela going to get the full MDN “hubba hubba” treatment? Or is that just reserved for Marissa Mayer?
I haven’t seen a photo of Angela on a red rubber ball, have you?
http://qz.com/116098/vogue-dresses-marissa-mayer-in-an-empresss-clothes-but-is-she-really-wearing-any/
Lol @ Ned Ryerson
@TheMacAdvocate
Agreed! I think she’s much better looking than MM. More pictures of AA, and certainly fewer pictures of John Browett in future articles. He’s yesterday’s news…
Angela doesn’t have the snigger that spoils Marissa’s interviews. That will help in her staged appearances, which I hope will supplant Tim Cook’s. He should stick to his duties in the kitchen and let her be the face of Apple.
It’s demeaning to blather on about the legs, eyes and hair of a certified genius in marketing and leadership. So don’t expect mdn to say a word about anything but her excellence and skill.
Go take a nap.
Its all well and good that she has all these plans, but Apple has to start coming out with new products soon or all her plans will be wasted I’m still not sold that a fashion merchandiser is going to be the savior of Apple. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.
Right where’s me revolver I think I will just go out with a bang I’m so depressed after that.
Gee how incredibly perceptive of you Captain Obvious. You should drive right now to Cupertino and spell it out for the executives at Apple, I’m sure they haven’t even thought of this. Thanks for the Words-That-Are-Not Necessary-To-Be-Said. This looks like Troll 101 speak.
Go, Ms. Ahrendts !
So happy you’re onboard the USS Apple Retail.
BOOM !
Cook has drafted a heavy hitter here with an outstanding international track record. This bodes well for Apple’s continued national/international expansion.
Competitors will not be happy.
Workers recognize passion, intelligence, and inspiring leadership potential quite quickly. And it doesn’t take more than a few minutes of communication for workers to spot a poser. From that article, it sounds like they’ve found a good one.