This silly cave troll John Browett had to be one of the worst hiring decisions in Apple's history. God only knows what lead Cook and his team to throw the head of Dixon's in charge of Apple's glass wrapped darling. From the day Browett was hired, one had to wonder if secretly he was a saboteur hired by Samsung to throw as many wrenches in a polished operation as possible.
Apple Retail has something of a successful story. Retail operations were originally dreamt up by Steve Jobs. Steve hired on the genius that is Ron Johnson to head up the effort. Together Steve and Ron created what would go on to quickly become the most successful retail store (profit per sq/ft) in the world, the fastest retail chain to reach 1bn in sales, and *most* importantly - a means by which the company could manage customer satisfaction. Retail, more so than a venue for sales, has always been a way in which Cupertino can show off cutting edge products as well as handle customer sat issues.
Johnson leaves to take over the top spot at JC Penny. After having saved Target and creating unaparalleled success at Apple, Ron was ready to try out the title of CEO. In Comes Browett who decides to make himself look good by improving on the already industry leading Apple Store profitability. How? His plan is to cut back staffing - nary a thought on what that might do to Apple store customer service, or the brand image as a whole. Essentially, Browett lacks any understanding for why the stores were created in the first place!
Employees complained. Customers complained. Luckily Apple has listened and Browett has been sent home.
Although my tenure as an employee at an Apple store expire before Bowett, I always felt Johnson did a great job. I have also noticed that as a consumer my experience since Bowett has decreased tremendously.
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