Retail VP Ron Johnson Officially Gone from Apple

Apple senior vice president of retail Ron Johnson was set to leave the company on November 1, and it looks like that’s exactly what happened. Mr. Johnson was quitting Apple to take over as CEO of J.C. Penney.

Ron Johnson, now with JC PennyRon Johnson, J.C. Penny’s new CEO

Mr. Johnson’s departure didn’t receive any fanfare in Cupertino; just the removal of his name and headshot from the Apple executive bio Web page.

When the announcement that he was leaving came out in June, Mr. Johnson commented “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.”

Mr. Johnson spent his 11 years at Apple developing and honing the company’s retail stores. Prior to that, he served at vice president of merchandising at Target.

Apple hasn’t yet announced a replacement for Mr. Johnson.