J.C. Penney Co Inc., led by former Apple Retail head Ron Johnson, “said on Thursday it has hired the man who led the design team behind Apple Inc’s sleek, well regarded outlets, the latest executive the U.S. department store chain has lured from the maker of the iPad and iPhone,” Reuters reports.
“Benjamin Fay, 40, will be Penney’s executive vice president for real estate, store design and development and his duties will include overseeing the remodeling of the chain’s stores,” Reuters reports. “Last month, Penney hired Mike Fisher from Apple as senior vice president of visual presentation for the stores.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JayinDC” for the heads up.]
Can’t blame ’em.
Why rob Apple? Cause that’s where the money is?
+∞!
If J.C. Penney can generate half the dollars per square foot that Apple Stores generate per square foot, they’ll be generating half the dollars per square foot that Apple does.
Yesterday I couldn’t spell analyst and today I are one!
If they manage to bring along Apples concept of product quality and value they may have something. Pretty packaging of crap is still just crap. Their issue is the breadth of product offerings. How do you assure product quality when you just sell other peoples stuff? But, they have plenty of room to grow. Last year they sold just $155/per square foot. If they get 4x better it will put them in the top 20.
Alternatively, they could simplify their product line to fit one of each product on a single table top, then make the best integrated clothing product line in the world. Infinite variation from mixing a few simple pieces. Somewhat premium price, but good value. Heavy on natural fabrics, black mock turtlenecks and jeans.
This is why Apple gave their new retail head all those stock options.
With all this Apple influence, it will be interesting to see how JCP fares into the future.
Can the miracle be reproduced where applied?..
If successful, it may spawn a new “Apple business model” approach, applying Apple’s innovative business principals any where.
I’m not impressed by Penney’s advertising, and it’s stores suck compared to say, Macy’s. It’s the
content, Stupid…
Is the content guaranteed to remain the same? How long has Ron Johnson been in there?
In a related note, Apple buys J.C. Penny.
I’m not impressed with several of the decisions that JC Penney’s has made lately. I hope it works out for him.
Enlighten us, what where these unimpressive decisions?
So, JC Penis wants to get better at their game by taking top employees from apple?
Maybe apple should take some of your employees (the good o es) and see how you like it.
Well, I can’t believe this. I also don’t see why they would take the job. Wouldnt you make more money working for apple than JC Peney?
What is te attacion? I’m not quite understanding this.
At least in Ron Johnson’s case, he stated he wanted the challenge, and his career goal had been to become CEO, which he wouldn’t become at Apple.
Money isn’t everything, especially at that pay grade.
This isn’t unexpected. Senior execs often take members of their staff with them when they jump ship. I wish Benjamin Fay all the best.
If they can pull this off it could lead to a major shake up across the retail sector. Imagine if all shops ran as efficiently as the Apple Stores. Better service, streamlined stock control, etc. I might actually stop dreading going shopping 😀
If you want to get more customers into a J.C. Penny store, then I suggest embedding an Apple Store in the back corner. People might look at the clothes, shoes, and such on their way in and out.