Johnson’s departure leaves Apple without retail head

New York City -- Ron Johnson’s decision to leave Apple, where he serves as senior VP of retail, to take the reins of J.C. Penney Co. leaves the tech giant without a retail chief as it begins to ramp up its international expansion.



Apple plans to open 40 stores this fiscal year, with almost three-quarters of them outside the United States, the company announced in April. A big growth area is Asia.

Apple has said very little with regards to its plans to replace Johnson.



“We’ve got a great retail team in place and are actively recruiting for his replacement,” said Amy Bessette, a company spokeswoman in a Bloomberg report.