Apple Hires Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts to Head Retail Operations

Apple announced late Monday that Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts will join the company in 2014 in the newly created role of Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores. Serving directly under Apple CEO Tim Cook, Ms. Ahrendts will have “oversight of the strategic direction, expansion and operation of both Apple retail and online stores.”

Mr. Cook cited Ms. Ahrendts’s leadership and focus on customer experience in announcing the hire:

I am thrilled that Angela will be joining our team. She shares our values and our focus on innovation, and she places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience. She has shown herself to be an extraordinary leader throughout her career and has a proven track record.

Ms. Ahrendts, 53, has helmed Burberry since 2006. Prior to joining the British fashion house, she served as executive vice president at Liz Claiborne and president of American fashion firm Donna Karan International.

Ms. Ahrednts will become the second person hired to lead Apple’s retail operations since longtime executive Ron Johnson left the company in 2011. John Browett, former head of UK retail outlet Dixons, was picked up by Apple in early 2012 to fill the role, but was ousted several months later after a series of embarrassing missteps.

Apple Retail has not been left entirely rudderless during this uncertain period, however. Mr. Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer have reportedly overseen retail operations during the search for new candidates, and the company hired Levi Strauss executive Enrique Atienza in August to handle specialized retail strategies for the U.S. West Coast. The company and Apple fans alike undoubtedly hope that Ms. Ahrednts’s tenure gets off to a better start than that of her predecessor.

Apple’s press release does not specify exactly when Ms. Ahrednts will assume her new position with the company, other than a brief mention of “next year.” We’ve reached out to Apple for clarification and will update this story if they respond. As of July 2013, Apple operates 415 retail stores in 13 countries, and continues to expand internationally.