Apple Bloggers Think JCPenney Should Have Given Ron Johnson More Time
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Ron Johnson got a raw deal at JC Penney, according to a few Apple bloggers.
John Gruber at Daring Fireball wrote, " they shouldn’t have hired him if they weren’t going to give him more time to turn it around."
Gruber is the most influential Apple writer in the world. He linked to a story by John Moltz, a freelance writer who focuses on technology, and Apple.
Moltz wrote, "You don’t turn around a crappy aircraft carrier full of chinos, Christmas sweaters and cheap curtains in two years. I liked what he was trying. It made me consider going into a JC Penney again."
And Moltz was linking to Matthew Panzarino, an Apple writer for The Next Web, who said, "I think Johnson deserved more time at Penney, he was doing interesting things, it was a long game But what do I know clothes lol"
Then, there's app maker, and part-time blogger Dan Frommer. On his site, he implies the board gave up too quickly. He also thinks Johnson should have done a retail startup.
Johnson joined JC Penney after building Apple's retail empire. As a result, a lot of tech writers were interested in Johnson.
At JC Penney, Johnson was a disaster. Sales dropped 32 percent in the fourth quarter. Dow Jones reports sales will be down 10 percent this quarter. His turnaround wasn't working.
It turns out a big part of the reason Johnson succeeded at Apple is that it's easier to start from scratch then fix a sinking ship — specially when you're selling iPhones and iPads.
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