Apple’s new retail chief Angela Ahrendts finally takes the reins

“Amid all the other news from Apple’s earnings call on Wednesday — the 7-for-1 stock split, the iPhone sales that helped earnings blow past expectations, the dividend increase — CEO Tim Cook revealed that Angela Ahrendts is finally on her way to Cupertino,” Jena McGregor reports for The Washington Post. “In October, Ahrendts, the CEO of Burberry, was named the senior vice president of Apple’s retail and online stores. She was required to fulfill a six-month notice period, but rumors had suggested she might not start until June in order to collect a performance bonus from Burberry.”

“Ahrendts’ arrival at Apple is notable for several reasons. For one, not many CEOs of powerhouse global brands go on to become SVPs to other CEOs. They’re typically unwilling to give up the power and authority of holding the top job, particularly when they’ve been as successful as Ahrendts has,” McGregor reports. “The move is also notable because Ahrendts will finally add a much-needed female face to Apple’s all-male executive suite, a distinction that has brought the company criticism. For now, at least, it appears Ahrendts will be the lone woman reporting to Cook. And Apple has just one woman on its board of directors.”

“Moreover, for the first time, there will be a leader at Apple in charge of both the online and bricks-and-mortar store experience,” McGregor reports. “This is no small issue. As one analyst told Fast Company in a profile of Ahrendts back in January, the traditional divide between the two sides has been ‘a historical failure’ at Apple that doesn’t track with how people actually shop… She is repeatedly commended for her skills managing people, an attribute that will be critical in leading a customer-service retail staff — particularly one that has been without a direct boss since late 2012 and suffered through a short-term hire known for cost-cutting before that.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Let the debrowettization begin! Go, Angela, go!

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