Apple's New SVP of Retail Went Undercover as Regular Salesperson

[Lankyman]

Exactly. Moreover, John Lewis is a partnership; the people who work there own the company so they have a vested interest in it being the very best it can be. They work hard, are reasonably well-paid and very well looked after, which makes for a much better shopping experience. If you go to work for JLP then there is a fair chance you will retire there.
Staff at DSG work long hours for retail pay. They don't see much of the company profits and have no plans to spend their whole working lives there. This is something Browett inherited and I'm not sure how he could change this.

Which is surely the template to successful retailing, happy staff means happy shoppers. Staff at DSGi were/are no happier under Browett than previous bosses from what I have heard.

 

[Tsuchiya]

His appointment to SVP of Retail stopped me in my tracks.

I know Dixons have been trying to distance themselves from PC World/Currys, but they still suck ass. Americans here complaining about Best Buy etc don't know how good they actually have it.

Appointing the guy who helped create that soul sucking environment to head up Apple stores is just confusing

 

[Macist]

This appointment is terrifying. If this is the kind of numpty that Tim Cook thinks is the future of Apple then we're doomed.

The thing is, what of earth can a Dixons guy tell Apple about retailing that that don't already know? Are shoppers going to be bullied into paying for Apple Care on every purchase?

In the UK, the Apple Store is already the best shopping experience (not that other retailers set the bar very high) followed by John Lewis. I mean, if they'd head-hunted someone from John Lewis that might have made sense - but then John Lewis is a kinda watered-down co-op so staff tend to value their role more there.

DSG has a decades-long reputation for terrible shopping experiences.

 

[Lankyman]

This appointment is terrifying. If this is the kind of numpty that Tim Cook thinks is the future of Apple then we're doomed.

The thing is, what of earth can a Dixons guy tell Apple about retailing that that don't already know? Are shoppers going to be bullied into paying for Apple Care on every purchase?

In the UK, the Apple Store is already the best shopping experience (not that other retailers set the bar very high) followed by John Lewis. I mean, if they'd head-hunted someone from John Lewis that might have made sense - but then John Lewis is a kinda watered-down co-op so staff tend to value their role more there.

DSG has a decades-long reputation for terrible shopping experiences.

As fantastically good as the John Lewis shopping experience is I can't see our American cousins going for that particular model - all the workers being partners in the business would be a bit radical, why it almost smacks of communism.

 

[Fukui]

This appointment is terrifying. If this is the kind of numpty that Tim Cook thinks is the future of Apple then we're doomed.

The thing is, what of earth can a Dixons guy tell Apple about retailing that that don't already know?

A Dixons guy can tell them everything they shouldn't be doing...lol.
IOW, like a consultant, just do everything the opposite what he says to do, and you’ll be fine. (no offense to good consultants out there)

 

[unexploded]

Let me help you Aristotle as you are clearly struggling with this thread, there have only been 70 or so posts so it might not be clear yet.

DSG are generally renowned for providing at best an indifferent retail opportunity. For years staff were completely preoccupied with selling over-priced warranties rather than pay attention to helping prospective customers. When they started selling Apple products they did so with little enthusiasm and less knowledge.

Now, it does appear that service in the new revamped bigger stores may have improved, and perhaps thats due to this gentleman's efforts ( I refer to the new Apple SVP at the very start of the thread Aristotle, stay with us..)

However the traditional retail experience of DSG is so far removed from the Apple retail experience that it is not surprising that many contributors to this thread are anxious to point out, as a point of information for fellow travellers, the apparent incongruity of this appointment. Some are giving him the benefit of the doubt, some are incredulous, but bottom line there will be few in the UK that didn't do a double take when they heard that the boss of Dixons was going to Apple. This from the UK's Daily Telegraph: "While Browett and Dixons are largely unknown in the US, in Britain many reacted to the news with surprise, citing the retailer's poor public image."

I hope I've given you some context on this Aristotle so you can better understand the thread comments above. None of it had to do with what country one is from and your bizarre accusation that people posting may not have actually been into the stores is rather strange. Let us know if you still don't get it though and we'll try again to guide you through this in an effort to prove these comments haven't been written by unrully Brits hell bent on pretending they've ever shopped in Dixons... (Probably one of the strangest of the conspiracy theories..) And when you drop us a line, just tell me what made you call yourself Aristotle as that just doesn't seem to be a good fit either...

Probably the best response I've read on MacRumors before. Or should I say MacRumours, just to piss off those Americans who seem to be causing a battle of the Atlantic over the appointment of a Brit.

Anyway, disturbing news to say the least. I am yet another ex-customer of DSG who has never been impressed at the service. The experience in a DSG store is so far removed from Apple's experience it's untrue. Maybe that's why they've hired him? Chalk and cheese, yknow.