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Retail Chief Ron Johnson Departs Apple for J.C. Penney, No Successor Named

vitzr

vitzr

macrumors 68030
Jul 28, 2011
2,765
3
California
For a company like Apple this is a normal amount of churn. History reveals that this type of thing is commonplace when there's a change of CEO.
 
MacAddict1978

MacAddict1978

macrumors 68000
Jun 21, 2006
1,653
883
basesloaded190 said:
Do you want to sell ladies clothes for the rest of your life, or stay with apple and change the world?
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He probably just quadrupled his salary, if not more, and not even counting his other compensation. A CEO title is a bit more ambitious, and he could never hold that at Apple. Also, he's in the retail end, and that was his career. JC Penny needs much love in their stores, and this is the guy who made Target the Cheap Chic retailer, and made the Apple stores what they are. (Anyone ever see pictures of the first Apple stores before this guy came on board? NOT impressive.)


I love the old analyst quote in the main article. Obviously he was wrong, be he was so off base. Comparing Gateway stores? Gateway stores didn't really sell anything! A customer still had to do a build to order and have it shipped to the store or their home. They more really just show rooms. 90% of the people that went to a Gateway store ordered online, not from the store. This was the business model. Gateway stores went away because their sales as a company began to dive. Also, Apple has never sold a product for 10% margin.
Nor will they.

Analysts are the most clueless thing, and then people actually listen to them.
 
T

Trauma1

macrumors 6502a
Jun 15, 2009
585
2
mikekey said:
Wow, they must be paying him really well to leave Apple. That or he felt there was no more innovating to be done at Apples Stores.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303848104576385510781132614.html

JCP is compensating him for the equity he leaves behind at his old company.

First reported back in June, Johnson is putting up $50 million of his own capital to buy warrants for $29.92 per share of JCP, to be exercised in six-years. The warrants are $6.89 a share, so if the stock isn't well above $36.81 six years from now, he is at a loss.

This is standard practice for a changeover like this. It shows the new CEO has faith in the company and in himself, and is also a personal incentive to be even more successful.
 
C

carlgo

macrumors 68000
Dec 29, 2006
1,806
17
Monterey CA
I didn't even know JCP still existed. How about something like a giant Apple store with transparent escalators and such selling the best of everything. Nothing but the best of every device, appliance, clothing, shoes, sporting goods, furniture, tools, bicycles, etc. And a great food court with a really good menu. With Jobs gone, the smell of bacon would be gently fanned throughout.

Maybe an auto display where exotic cars and bikes would be artfully displayed, rotating between the stores.

Who wouldn't go there just to see all the best stuff, one-stop upscale.
 
nylonsteel

nylonsteel

macrumors 68000
Nov 5, 2010
1,550
490
re original article
I for one - would be very impressed if rj could turn jc penny around - into a relevant reatil chain once more
 
thejadedmonkey

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,180
3,324
Pennsylvania
ryanmcv said:
Only $1.2 million/year for rent? I hardly doubt that would put much of a dent in Apple's pockets.

Edit: Just saw the word "each" after that sentence. Okay, that is a lot of money.
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Actually, when Apple opened up their first retail stores, 1.2m was about 80% of their value :p
 
KnightWRX

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
the8thark said:
So Apple is a victim of it's own success?
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Marketing, thy name is the8thark. I remember a decade ago when I was working customer service (back in my college days) for the cable company that was in the process of introducing cable access to the Internet. We always claimed "We're a victim of our own success!" when customers would say that 3 hours of wait time on hold was no acceptable.

And frankly you know what ? It was just that we had poor planning, lacked proper service tools and most of the staff was clueless on how our systems (internal and customer) worked.

Apple's retail woes are as much their own doing as it is about too many people coming off the street.
 
Nostromo

Nostromo

macrumors 65816
Dec 26, 2009
1,358
2
Deep Space
I'm always wondering how much executives actually identify with what they do, and how much they are just aparatchiks who will just perform any taks that they are told to do.

J C Penney... Why not Walmart? Or McDonalds?
 
MightyMac007

MightyMac007

macrumors member
Aug 24, 2011
51
0
nylonsteel said:
re original article
I for one - would be very impressed if rj could turn jc penny around - into a relevant reatil chain once more
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Agreed. I can't remember the last time I stepped in JCP. Maybe 15 years ago, and even then it didn't feel right.
 
M

mgkimsal

macrumors member
Jan 31, 2011
45
3
KnightWRX said:
And frankly you know what ? It was just that we had poor planning, lacked proper service tools and most of the staff was clueless on how our systems (internal and customer) worked.

Apple's retail woes are as much their own doing as it is about too many people coming off the street.
Click to expand...

I think the move to roll out 'self-service order and pickup' at their stores is a move in the right direction. For all the hand-holding that goes on at Apple stores (generally a good thing) there's many people who just need to get something and get out, but you have to wait for the checkout people way too often at certain times of the day.

I think Apple realizes the traffic patterns and trends at their stores, and will figure out ways to make it better.
 
W

World Citizen

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2011
168
1
Oke, where did this margin thing come from?

Its known that Apple's first goal with there stores is not to sell things, but to relate with the costumer. It even says so in the contract of the employes.

Apple will loose mony with the stores.. He didn't even figure out that the development costs of the store is a totally billion dollar loss.. that they will never see back. You know how much time and development and research is getting in to these stores... ?

Idiot.

edit: he is obviously not in "the loop" of Jobs his ideas ...
 
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E

erzhik

macrumors 6502
Dec 2, 2010
486
395
mayhone1 said:
Apple for JC penny, really?
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Yes really. Why wouldn't he? It's a CEO position, therefore much much bigger paycheck to support his family. JC Penny may sound not as upscale as Apple but they make truckload of money.
 
Antares

Antares

macrumors 68000
Jan 16, 2006
1,721
28
Somewhere in the Milky Way....a little place calle
mikekey said:
But does anyone still shop at department stores?
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Where else do you shop for clothes, then, other than a deparment store? Online? a junky place like Walmart? Clothes you still need to buy in a physical store to get the best fit. Where else can you go?

I'm not talking about specialty stores like GAP, Burbury, Old Navy, etc. Those are good once in a while as a supplement to your wardrobe. But where else can you buy your regular clothes and accessories other than a department store?

Edit: JCP is where I buy most of my clothes. I can't imagine where else I would go other than Sears....where I do also buy some clothes.
 
G

GovtLawyer

macrumors 6502
Sep 6, 2008
301
9
What nightmare?

KnightWRX said:
I hope he actually fixes the retail experience. It's a nightmare currently. Trying to actually go into an Apple store is an exercise in frustration.
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I have no idea what you're talking about. While the Apple stores are usually crowded; going in, finding the product and then finding someone to help me has always been a great experience. I live in Manhattan and the stores get a lot of traffic. Can you be more specific as to where the store is and what is nightmarish?

Perhaps you only go there on days they introduce new products.
 
KnightWRX

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
GovtLawyer said:
I have no idea what you're talking about. While the Apple stores are usually crowded; going in, finding the product and then finding someone to help me has always been a great experience. I live in Manhattan and the stores get a lot of traffic. Can you be more specific as to where the store is and what is nightmarish?

Perhaps you only go there on days they introduce new products.
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In Montreal, St-Catherine store, walking in knowing what you want and having to mope around for 30 minutes trying to get someone to accept your credit card so you can get out while all the shirts are discussing various tidbits with Facebook browsers that aren't buying anything.
 
M

MacAudioPro

macrumors member
Nov 1, 2011
69
1
Yeah

mayhone1 said:
Apple for JC penny, really?
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Yeah, how dare this man attempt to better himself and accept a CEO position with a major US corporation. I personally always look for employees who are satisfied with what they have and have no ambition to advance!

I can tell you agree.....
 
S

Scoth

macrumors newbie
Oct 13, 2011
14
0
He spoke at my school last year, seemed like a really nice guy. Hoping the best for him.
 
A

anotonin

macrumors member
Oct 19, 2011
94
0
I wish him well. He has done a great job at Apple, hopefully he also does great things with JC Penney.

Good luck, Sir Johnson.
 
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