John Browett became Apple's head of retail in January 2012, two months after the Apple Store father Ron Johnson had left the company for a CEO position at JC Penney. His stint at Apple was a brief one: Browett would last on the job a little over six months.
Partly responsible for the silly Apple Store campaign, Browett single-handily alienated retail staff after proposing layoffs in a bid to prove his worth to the bosses. "We messed up," he admitted, but it was already too late for apologies.
Having tarnished the Apple brand, the former Dixons boss quickly fell out of favor with CEO Tim Cook, who fired Browett alongside iOS boss Scott Forstall in a major August management shakeup.
Finding a new role as CEO of Monsoon Accessorize, UK's low-cost women fashion and accessory retailer, Browett now reflects on his experience as Apple's short-lived retail boss. He told attendees of the Retail Week Live conference that he is a “kinder person” now and admitted he just couldn't fit within the iPhone maker's demanding corporate culture and work ethos...
