Apple's vice president of retail operations, Ron Johnson, who is credited with the creation of the Genius Bar, has officially stepped down from the post he held for 11 years.
His departure was expected; Johnson announced in June that he would leave Apple to become the president and chief executive of JC Penney.
Apple on Tuesday removed Johnson’s picture from its executive profiles page, and it has not yet announced a new head of retail. The company said in June that it was “actively recruiting” a replacement for Johnson.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment on the search process, but AppleInsider said Apple took the search international in August, since it is focusing on opening more stores abroad. Apple said in its most recent earnings call that it plans to add 40 more stores to its fleet in the current quarter, 75 percent of which will be located outside of the United States.
According to AppleInsider, Johnson was personally recruited to Apple by the company’s late co-founder Steve Jobs in 2000 to head up Apple’s retail operations. Johnson had spent the previous 15 years working as a retail exec with Target. Johnson, who introduced the idea for the Genius Bar, is credited with building Apple into the retail behemoth that it is today.
In fact, as AppleInsider notes, as far as international retail chains go, Apple Stores are some of the most profitable stores per square foot.
Apple celebrated the tenth anniversary of its retail stores in May. It opened its very first store in Tyson’s Corner, Va. in 2001 and has since expanded to more than 350 locations worldwide.
For more, see the Six Apple Stores to Visit Before You Die slideshow below.