News: Retail Chief Ron Johnson Leaves for J.C. Penney

With the start of November, one bit of news happened that was pretty predictable, back in June, Apple Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson announced he’d be going to J.C. Penney. Sure enough, it happened, with no successor named.

After eleven years at Apple, Johnson had a significant hand in Apple’s retail efforts and making them a huge success:

Johnson came to Apple from Target eleven years ago, overseeing the launch and strong growth of Apple’s retail store segment. With other computer companies such as Gateway struggling with their own retail efforts at the time, Apple faced a significant amount of skepticism about whether it could make a viable stand in direct-sales retail.

Apple has of course seen a tremendous amount of success in retail, leading all U.S. retail chains in sales per square foot while also serving to enhance brand awareness and offer direct support services to customers

Apple has yet to announce Johnson’s successor, with the company reportedly having been conducting a worldwide search as it seeks to increase its retail presence in international markets. The company has announced that it intends to open forty new retail stores during fiscal 2012, with 75% of those locations coming outside of the United States. Apple is also looking to expand or replace a number of its existing stores that are no longer able to handle current customer traffic levels.