Apple Retail boss jumps ship, headed to JC Penney

By on Jun 14, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Business June 14, 2011

Apple’s head of retail is leaving the company to become President of JC Penney, Bloomberg said in a wire report. Prior to the move, Ron Johnson lead Apple’s retail strategy and was responsible for its overall performance according to his executive bio on the Apple website. Apple’s retail business reeled in $3.19 billion in revenue last quarter, and it the company is widely heralded for its leadership in the space. Shares of JC Penney stock jumped more than 14% on the news.

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31 Comments

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  • Anonymous

    It’s “Penney,” not “Penny.”

  • Biff Tannon

    He knows that Apple is nearing the end of their prime. They’ve reached the top, and we all know what happens once you reach the top.

    • Anonymous

      Or he reached his peak personally at Apple and carried a huge price tag. Ca-ching. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/michaeljmcgrath Michael McGrath

      or jcp is on the verge of death and his talents could be more lucrative there….

  • Anonymous

    Things must be getting bad over there at 1 Infinite Loop if this guy is leaving Apple to sell granny panties and Wrangler jean.

    • Anonymous

      …or he was poached, and got a significant raise. It’s like in the NFL when a team does well, assistant coaches get poached and become head coach. Can’t turn that down.

    • Anonymous

      LOL, funny comment of the day!

    • Anonymous

      He wants to be a CEO, and he’s never going to be one at Apple, so he’s leaving. Good for him. 

    • Anonymous

       Or maybe he want’s to be the president of a huge retail company, nah.

  • Anonymous

    This is a big ‘ouch’ for Apple, their retail stores are one of the reasons they entice customers. Hopefully they do big things in the future… 

    • Anonymous

      FYI, he won’t be taking the stores with him. 

      • Anonymous

        I believe Apple also patented the white retail look so you won’t see that at J-penny, either.

  • Redtea

    I was hopping this was in regards to the UNION creation of mac genius’…. 

    • Anonymous

      You mean that same thing that has been going on for years now and every 6 months someone dusts off the story and re-posts it?  YES that’s it EXACTLY OMGZ!!!!111!!11!!!!!   I hear Steve Jobs is dumping all of his stock and getting a Tennessee sex change (to be his own cousin?) so he can just hide out and be Snow White at Disney Japan so he won’t be called as a witness at he ensuing labor trials brought by the ACLU.

  • Anonymous

    “Do you have this in a medium?”

    “Have you made an appointment?” 

  • http://www.section303.com codeyh

    Why the hell would anyone go to JC Penney?!

    • Anonymous

      “Mr. Johnson said, “I’ve always dreamed of leading a major retail company as CEO, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help J. C. Penney re-imagine what I believe to be the single greatest opportunity in American retailing today, the Department Store. I have tremendous confidence in J. C. Penney’s future and look forward to working with Mike Ullman, the Executive Board and the Company’s 150,000 associates to transform the way America shops.”As a demonstration of his confidence in J. C. Penney’s long-term potential, Mr. Johnson requested and has committed to make a personal investment of $50 million in the Company through the purchase, at fair market value, of 7 1/2-year warrants on 7.257 million shares ofJ. C. Penney Company stock. The warrants cannot be sold or hedged for the first six years of their term and have a strike price of $29.92, the closing price of the stock on the business day prior to Mr. Johnson’s commitment to purchase the warrants.”

    • madgalaxy

      The company has been around for over 100 years, so there must be people who shop there.

    • fr3dd0

      people used to say the same about apple…
       

  • http://www.bignerdblog.com BigNerd

    So is there going to be a Penney Bar?

    Other than money/power… going from Apple to JC is like going from the Internet to a BBS… maybe he was feeling retro.

  • Bobdonhim

    BGR….Where is the news about Apple recalling VZW iPad2′s over
    connectivity issues????  You were all over the small PlayBook recall
    real quick!!!!  Get off your knees and report real news!

    • Anonymous

      You mean foxconn screwing up internal ID numbers and reusing a batch?  Wow if you are going to try to troll get the facts straight, haha just kidding I don’t expect you to know what you are talking about.  Troll on McTrollington.

      • Anonymous

        And this was reported on BGR quite a while ago. Maybe you missed it in between the countless Android phone reviews/previews or the iOS 5 daily escapades.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t understand, hasn’t Martha Stewart already licensed her branding and whites there?

    • Mobile

      You certainly would know about Martha Stewart you fairy.

      • Thatguy169

        while you sit in your skid mark Joe Boxer boxers in form of a TV/Radio combo praying for the fat woman to win on the Price is Right. Your mother. 

      • Mobile

        In “form” of a TV/Radio?  Nice Spanglish amigo.

  • http://twitter.com/randomwatson B

    Best of luck to Mr. Johnson. He’s done well by Apple and you can’t blame the guy for wanting to be CEO of a company, which will not be possible in Cupertino. 

  • Worldfoot

    This guy had very little to do with Apples success and ANYONE could have run Apples retail business and done well. JCP is in for a rude awekeining when they wake up and find that THIS GUY didnt have anything to do with the allure of Apples products or the way they sell. JCP is not Apple and does not have an Apple like following.

  • http://profiles.google.com/pmendez.hou Pedro Mendez

    Maybe they got him on sale….

  • http://twitter.com/MirandaJanell MirandaJanell

    Does this mean I’m going to have to consult a genius before buying pantyhose?

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