Really? I don't follow JCP news, but my understanding was that it was a wreck when he took over. Perhaps things continued to spiral, but I didn't think he was the sole cause of the decline.
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Former Apple Retail Head Ron Johnson Fired as CEO of JC Penney
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Really? I don't follow JCP news, but my understanding was that it was a wreck when he took over. Perhaps things continued to spiral, but I didn't think he was the sole cause of the decline.
That would not be too unusual at
; happen in the past in the highest ranks (with quite some success, I guess) 
Bad fit
This was a bad fit from the beginning. Trying to overlay Apple's philosophy on JCP retail was doomed before it got off the ground. A large part of the success of Apple is their product focus. Market and sell a finite group of products and do it to the best of your ability. JCP has a ton of products across multiple categories. RJ couldn't focus on one group without neglecting the others.
Apple competes in a market with very few competitors. It's easier for them to differentiate. JCP sells the same things that can be had at any other retailer. Apple has cachet. JCP is... well, JCP. Close your eyes in JCP and you could be in Target, Walmart, Sears, or Kohls. Additionally, a ton of other mall retailers sell the same things.
Apples philosophy works for Apple because of what, and how, they sell. That philosophy is non-transferable IMHO. He should have known better
This was a bad fit from the beginning. Trying to overlay Apple's philosophy on JCP retail was doomed before it got off the ground. A large part of the success of Apple is their product focus. Market and sell a finite group of products and do it to the best of your ability. JCP has a ton of products across multiple categories. RJ couldn't focus on one group without neglecting the others.
Apple competes in a market with very few competitors. It's easier for them to differentiate. JCP sells the same things that can be had at any other retailer. Apple has cachet. JCP is... well, JCP. Close your eyes in JCP and you could be in Target, Walmart, Sears, or Kohls. Additionally, a ton of other mall retailers sell the same things.
Apples philosophy works for Apple because of what, and how, they sell. That philosophy is non-transferable IMHO. He should have known better
Well, dayum...
Yep...guaranteed...almost...
Just goes to show you that Apple sells itself...
Actually it's "yes, please" for three guys now:
Ron Johnson
Avie Tevanian
Bertrand Serlet
This is the perfect trifecta to put the "Mac" back into Apple.
I'm not saying I'm against bringing Johnson back as he obviously was a big part of what made Apple Retail great, but I think this is different. Jobs got pushed out, albeit as a result of his own issues and inability to effectively lead at that time. He grew up a lot in his time away from Apple though and built some things on his own that would become valuable to Apple. Johnson left Apple by choice to pursue something else, and ultimately, he failed at it, pretty miserably at that. Could he still come back to Apple and do a great job heading up retail operations? It's very likely. Is it at all the same as the Steve Jobs situation? Not really at all.
Um... haha. What?
Methinks that a lot of people here don't know that Apple originally hired Ron because of the way he took Target skyward. And he did THAT mostly by changing their clothing offerings.
I, for one, am honestly kind of surprised he had so much trouble at Penny's given his history at Target.
Well I wasn't expecting that. How could the man who did such great things for apple retail do so badly at jcp that he's out not long after he started?
The problem is that the typical JC Penney customer isn't the same as the typical Apple customer. Nordstrom's CEO probably wouldn't be very good running JC Penney, either.
JC Penney's business model was very much like Kohl's in that they inflated their list prices and held "sales" and gave away "discount" coupons regularly. Johnson tried to move toward "everyday low pricing" while at the same time improving the quality of the merchandise (and average selling prices). Existing customers just saw fewer "sales" and coupons and stopped going there. New customers never came to replace them.
He'd probably do fine running Apple retail again, but having been a CEO he may not want to go back, even if Apple would take him.
You state it like he accepted an offer from their direct competition. He wanted to be CEO. Any of his peers would understand that.
Well I wasn't expecting that. How could the man who did such great things for apple retail do so badly at jcp that he's out not long after he started?
He wanted JCP to be like Apple and Target.
The company was rudderless before. Johnson knew what he wanted to turn JC Penny into, where he was headed. It wasn't something that he could pull off with a company that big and cumbersome.
For the poor? Seriously? Wow.
The joke is that you actually consider Macy's to be as good as it gets, so I'm not going to argue with you.
The difference is that Target is upscale compared to its competition (Wal-Mart). JC Penney is not considered upscale compared even to a mainstream retailer like Macy's. Its customer base is more like Kohl's, and it is seen on a similar level. It's hard to wean people off coupons. I'd imagine that Kohl's would see the same results if they attempted to apply the same strategy.
It was 100% his doing. He treated the company as a start up business, with a 4-year rebuilding plan, which that alone should have scared investors. Also insulting your customer base on numerous occasions, decimating the morale of anyone working for the company, and laying off almost 30,000 employees all in a years time is just not good leadership.
Or Samsung. He's probably well past any non-compete agreements he had with Apple (which are pretty worthless in California as it is).
