Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts to speak at April's Global Retailing Conference

Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts will be one of the featured speakers at next month's Global Retailing Conference in Tucson, Ariz., according to the event's website.

The conference is scheduled for Apr. 20 and 21, where Ahrendts will be joined by executives from Macy's, Kendra Scott, Walmart, and other corporations. The only other major tech speaker present will be Alex Komoroske, a lead product manager at Google responsible for the Chrome Web Platform team.

Tickets for the event run between $400 and $695, with the lowest price being reserved for colleges, universities, and non-profits.

The subject of Ahrendts' talk is unknown, but since joining Apple in 2014 the executive has overseen some significant changes, such as new roles among retail workers. New and existing outlets have been adopting a more fashion-oriented aesthetic, combining elements like wooden shelves, tree groves, and oversized video displays.

Prior to Apple the executive was the CEO of Burberry, making her shift an unusual downgrade in job title, though Apple is a vastly bigger company.

One of the larger Apple projects spearheaded by Ahrendts has been manufacturing a "community" around each store. Some examples of this are "Teacher Tuesdays," and classes in which kids can learn to program in the company's Swift language.

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25 Comments

SpamSandwich

said about 7 years ago

I was beginning to wonder if she still worked there. She really should be getting out in front of the media more and putting out a pro-Apple message as she seems to be well liked by the retail workers.

volcan

said about 7 years ago

sog35 said:

Very overpaid IMO.

Retail is getting less and less important. Brick and Mortar stores? Why bother?

What has she done to justify her $100 million salary? Not much.

She messed up the Watch launch. Retail stores look basically the same. China sales has TANKED last year (her calling card was growing China like she did for Burbury) and I have not seen anything spectacular. The retail store experience buying stuff on release day still kind sucks.

Again why is she getting paid $100 million?

Brick and mortar stores are still relevant which is why Apple continues to build them, especially in places outside of the US where shipping online purchases is sometimes problematic and expensive.
Her salary is probably a result of how much Apple had to offer her to leave Burberry.
I think the people who want to stand in line on release day like doing it. People who don't, order online or wait until the rush settles down.

volcan

said about 7 years ago

sog35 said:

China sales has TANKED last year

Not exactly TANKED and a good portion of the revenue decrease was due to currency fluctuations. Read this article.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/07/see-how-apples-growth-in-greater-china-could-once-again-top-european-revenue

anome

said about 7 years ago

Are Apple stores still making more per square foot than Tiffany's? (Last figures I can find are from May last year, and Apple were substantially ahead of everyone else.)

SpamSandwich

said about 7 years ago

anome said:

Are Apple stores still making more per square foot than Tiffany's? (Last figures I can find are from May last year, and Apple were substantially ahead of everyone else.)

I believe Apple makes more per square foot at retail than any other company.