Apple Inc.’s senior vice president of it retail operations, Ron Johnson, will be taking over full CEO responsibilities at his new gig at J.C. Penney on February 1st, 2012. J.C. Penney announced earlier in June that it had hired Mr. Johnson, a retailing powerhouse who helped Apple build its phenomenally successful fleet of retail stores over the last ten years.

Outgoing Apple VP Ron Johnson

When J.C. Penney announced it had hired the executive away from Apple, the company said he would join the board of directors on August 1st and come on board as the new CEO on November 1st. On Monday, the department store specified that his initial duties would be limited to merchandizing and marketing until he takes full control in February

Apple still lists Mr. Johnson in its executive profiles, and the executive is reportedly working on making a smooth transition out of the tech giant.

Shares in Apple Inc. have moved steadily downward since the announcement, and closed lower on Monday at US$315.32, down $4.94 (-1.54%), on strong volume of 22.8 million shares trading hands.

Shares in J.C. Penney moved higher Monday, ending the day at $35.19, up $0.90 (+2.62%), on light volume of 6.7 million shares trading hands (though average volume of 11.8 million shares was pushed much higher by the news of Mr. Johnson’s hire). Shares of JCP are up more than 15% since the news broke last week.