Apple's Search for New Retail Chief Extending Internationally

[MacRumors]

Back in June, department store chain J.C. Penney announced that it had named Apple retail boss Ron Johnson as its next Chief Executive Officer, with Johnson set to take the new job as of November 1st. Johnson has played an instrumental role at Apple over the past decade, overseeing the company's entire retail store initiative since joining Apple from discount retailer Target in 2000.

Apple's Pudong retail store in Shanghai, China​

As part of its efforts to find a replacement for Johnson, Apple has reportedly extended its reach internationally with the hiring of search firm Egon Zehnder to assist with the search, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who's now on medical leave, was extensively involved in the decision to use a search firm and chose Egon Zehnder mainly because he wants to consider executives who are based abroad, one person familiar with the situation said.

Apple's hiring of the global recruitment firm suggests that the company may be seeking an executive with international retail experience. That makes sense given that it has been focusing most of its recent retail expansion in international markets.

Apple's emphasis on international retail stores over the past several years has seen the international component of the company's retail arm grow to nearly 30% of the over 325 total stores. Apple currently operates retail stores in ten countries beyond the United States, and is in the midst of a significant push to open 30 more stores before the end of September.

Apple's "Greater China" market of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong has been a major focus for the company over the last year or two, although Apple has been relatively slow to open new stores there as the company currently operates only four stores in the country, all of which rank among the busiest in the company's chain. Apple last year announced plans to open up to 25 new stores in China during the following 24 months, but the company has opened only three locations since that time as it has worked hard to identify the best locations and to make plans for larger and more iconic stores than originally anticipated.

Article Link: Apple's Search for New Retail Chief Extending Internationally

 

[devinher]

Big shoes

Talk about a tough act to follow. He's probably nearly as difficult to replace as Ives. Good luck to them!

 

[citi]

This is going to read poorly, and I have no intention of offending anyone but...

It's hard to believe we can't find someone to run a company that started in America, IN AMERICA.

Can't we hire someone from the GAP?

 

[weing]

Well it makes sense. Now the China is opened up to them. The USA is now "just another market" to Apple.
And fast becoming an unimportant one at that!

 

[applefan289]

I've been wondering what would happen to Apple if some of the top people leave (like Steve Jobs, or Jonathan Ive). But, given that the company has had a ton of time to grow and get their system down, I don't think it would change much if there were replacements.

I'm sure Apple's goal is to keep this thing going as long as possible. They would not make the mistake of having the company's products or goals change because of corporate replacements.

 

[claus1225]

they need a store in Taipei, Taiwan.

right in the 101 or sogo area.

those are the most prestigious and crowded district.

even a 3 year old in taiwan can tell you that.

 

[Locodice]

Steve really dropped the ball here.

I could see a special edition of The Apprentice with Steve picking the winner.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Why would anyone jump ship from Apple to manage JC Pennies? Skip out on the fastest growing company in the world with the most upside potential to run the retail aspect of a company that is cratering? There must be more to the story.

 

[a4ex]

I hope they will decide eventually to open one in Greece. We had enough with this resellers-crap

 

[LoganT]

Why would anyone jump ship from Apple to manage JC Pennies? Skip out on the fastest growing company in the world with the most upside potential to run the retail aspect of a company that is cratering? There must be more to the story.

While Johnson will only be named president, he is expected to become CEO at JC Penney in the next few months.

Source

So yes, there is more to the story.

 

[whooleytoo]

This is going to read poorly, and I have no intention of offending anyone but...

It's hard to believe we can't find someone to run a company that started in America, IN AMERICA.

Can't we hire someone from the GAP?

Apple already have a huge (and hugely successful) retail operation in the US, there's far more expansion and growth potential internationally, which is why it might sense to look outside the US for its new retail chief.

 

[Abyssgh0st]

Why would anyone jump ship from Apple to manage JC Pennies? Skip out on the fastest growing company in the world with the most upside potential to run the retail aspect of a company that is cratering? There must be more to the story.

CEO > VP, from both a money standpoint and obviously a corporate ladder standpoint. Johnson running the show may be a lot better to him than designing retail environments.

 

[Capt Underpants]

Wouldn't surprise me if the new guy is Chinese. They're set for a huge push in that market.

 

[Glideslope]

Well it makes sense. Now the China is opened up to them. The USA is now "just another market" to Apple.
And fast becoming an unimportant one at that!

Unfortunately you're correct.

 

[Glideslope]

Wouldn't surprise me if the new guy is Chinese. They're set for a huge push in that market.

A person from "Greater China." Tim is always saying "Greater China". China, Taiwan, Hong Kong.

Definitely will be Male. Especially in Asia. I'm going to say they come from Hong Kong.

 

[mkrishnan]

Source

So yes, there is more to the story.

J.C. Penney is quite the challenge. Once upon a time, it was a storied American brand, but it fell so far. I would think, if one were in his line of work, it'd be a really interesting challenge to see if it could be turned into something meaningful again.

 

[Glideslope]

J.C. Penney is quite the challenge. Once upon a time, it was a storied American brand, but it fell so far. I would think, if one were in his line of work, it'd be a really interesting challenge to see if it could be turned into something meaningful again.

Used to be simply "Penney's. Noted that while looking through my Mint Dec 63 Life Magazine last weekend at a Retro Gathering.

Where did J.C. arrive from?

 

[mkrishnan]

Used to be simply "Penney's. Noted that while looking through my Mint Dec 63 Life Magazine last weekend at a Retro Gathering.

Where did J.C. arrive from?

Hmmm. I dunno. According to Wikipedia, it's had the J. C. (the founder's initials) in the name since 1913. The NYSE ticker is JCP, too.

 

[wackymacky]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

This is going to read poorly, and I have no intention of offending anyone but...

It's hard to believe we can't find someone to run a company that started in America, IN AMERICA.

Can't we hire someone from the GAP?

Even though I am not Americain I understand your sentiment. However from the shareholders perspective it is about the bottom line.

Where is the new upper-middle classes now? Not in the Western world. (The American dream is fading)

China and India and such is where the money is, and where the global future is got to be with 50 years. It's a hard fact of life us Westerners will need to come to accept.

 

[AppleScruff1]

This is going to read poorly, and I have no intention of offending anyone but...

It's hard to believe we can't find someone to run a company that started in America, IN AMERICA.


Can't we hire someone from the GAP?

Agreed,

Well it makes sense. Now the China is opened up to them. The USA is now "just another market" to Apple.
And fast becoming an unimportant one at that!

If the USA is not important to them, let them move their headquarters overseas too. Goodbye and good riddance to a bunch of arrogant prima donnas.

Maybe they can hire a Foxconn slave for the position?

 

[rdowns]

This is going to read poorly, and I have no intention of offending anyone but...

It's hard to believe we can't find someone to run a company that started in America, IN AMERICA.

Can't we hire someone from the GAP?

Apple would be remiss if they didn't look outside the US. What's wrong with hiring someone who can help them in their international expansion?

 

[reden]

I hope they will decide eventually to open one in Greece. We had enough with this resellers-crap

I hope they sell gyros inside your Apple stores.

 

[*LTD*]

Why would anyone jump ship from Apple to manage JC Pennies? Skip out on the fastest growing company in the world with the most upside potential to run the retail aspect of a company that is cratering? There must be more to the story.

JC Penny needed a CEO.

Apple already has a CEO (and the Retail guy was not in line for that position, safe to say.)

Limited growth prospects at Apple vs. running a major corporation.

Draw your own conclusions.

 

[slinky199]

J.C. Penney is quite the challenge. Once upon a time, it was a storied American brand, but it fell so far. I would think, if one were in his line of work, it'd be a really interesting challenge to see if it could be turned into something meaningful again.

Sounds like Apple.

 

[MacOSXuser]

China is the winner.