Apple, Inc.

By Brad Tuckman, ksckreate.com

Apple runs a really tight ship. That’s the takeaway of a recent Wall Street Journal article that used confidential Apple store training materials and interviews with current and former store associates to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the tech-giant’s store operations. Among the interesting details: Apple’s annual retail sales per square foot stand at an astounding $4,406.

Here are some other interesting insights from the article:

Walmart attracted nearly 33.6 million unique visitors to its website in May, earning the company the 29th spot on comScore’s monthly ranking of the top 50 U.S. web properties. That sounds like a lot of traffic, but 7th ranked Amazon.com drew nearly three times that level with 94.9 million unique visitors. Other notable, retail-oriented companies and their rank included 13th ranked Apple, with 70.3 million unique visitors, 14th ranked eBay, with 67.2 million unique visitors and 20th ranked Craigslist, with 51.8 million unique visitors.

By Glenn Brill, [email protected]

The recent announcement that Ron Johnson of Apple will become J. C. Penny’s new chief executive is a clear indication of the need for many retailers to revitalize the shopping experience. It is also a clarion call and symbolic of the challenge to mall owners, developers, and investors to create and/or revitalize shopping environments that can effectively complement and promote a retailer’s brand.

New York City -- Do you think Apple retail guru Ron Johnson will transform J.C. Penney Co.?

Click here to register your opinion with the Chain Store Age poll.

New York City -- J.C. Penney Co. on Monday detailed the timeline of its upcoming change in executive management with the news that current CEO and chairman Myron “Mike” Ullman will leave the company and the board in February 2012 after a three-month transition period during which he will hand over the reins in full to his successor, Apple retail guru Ron Johnson.

It was the biggest story in the retail world last week when JCPenney announced it had hired Ron Johnson as its new CEO with the incoming executive vowing to transform the way America shops by reinventing the department store. Such statements normally elicit a yawn because they are so common, but Johnson is the former SVP retail at Apple and spent the past 11 years overseeing the development and growth of the company’s wildly successful and widely heralded retail operation.

My husband loves Apple. In fact, I cannot remember one single trip to Mall of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) that hasn’t included a stop-in at the Apple store. There, he plays with the gadgets -- iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, iPods -- and wanders the store, as content to browse the high-tech aisles as I am to shop the designer shoe department at Dillard’s.