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Doc HM · Jan 31, 2012, 04:38 PM

BBC News - Apple signs Dixons Retail chief John Browett

Former head of big shed retailer and loss making tech selling outfit to head Apple retail.

Can't say I'm thinking this is a great move.

turtle777 · Jan 31, 2012, 04:48 PM

Well, it's been a while that Apple made really boneheaded personnel decisions.

I gotta give Apple the benefit of doubt.

-t

OAW · Jan 31, 2012, 05:05 PM

At this stage in the game the Apple retail division is a bonafide juggernaut. This guy only needs to stick to the script and oversee its continued expansion. The heavy lifting has already been done IMO.

OAW

Waragainstsleep · Jan 31, 2012, 05:53 PM

OAW is right, but like Doc I have to wonder what they are thinking hiring this guy. Dixons has never been anything special in terms of retail or service. Same is true of their whole group which includes Currys and PC World. Strictly retail by the numbers.

Spheric Harlot · Jan 31, 2012, 11:45 PM

The idea may be that he's from Europe.

Retail works very differently here.

I know that many here in germany despise the Apple Stores, and that Apple has had to completely realign their internal goals and store sales methods here. The US model is WAY too pushy and works mostly for tourists, but can really turn people off permanently.

turtle777 · Jan 31, 2012, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

The US model is WAY too pushy and works mostly for tourists, but can really turn people off permanently.

I never felt the US Apple Stores pushy. They are nothing compared to Best Buy, RadioShack or other stores when it comes to customer harassment.

Of course, by German standards, even a smiling clerk is pushy.
Germany has got to be the only country where sales employees give you attitude, and it's totally ok and accepted.

-t

OldManMac · Feb 1, 2012, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

I never felt the US Apple Stores pushy. They are nothing compared to Best Buy, RadioShack or other stores when it comes to customer harassment.

Of course, by German standards, even a smiling clerk is pushy.
Germany has got to be the only country where sales employees give you attitude, and it's totally ok and accepted.

-t

I deal with a lot of Germans, in the U. S., and they are more often than not taken aback when someone asks in a polite tone, what may we help them with. That's one of the big reasons Wally World moved out of Germany after a few years.

Big Mac · Feb 1, 2012, 02:19 AM

LOL.

So how do Germans sell things to each other if traditional sales as Americans know them are verboten? Little confused there. . .

As for the CV of this new hire, one has to remember that Tim Cook was a Compaq executive before coming to Apple. I think we have to look at this with a presumption that Apple knows what it's doing when it comes to hiring people for its core business.

Doc HM · Feb 1, 2012, 02:34 AM

Originally Posted by OAW

At this stage in the game the Apple retail division is a bonafide juggernaut. This guy only needs to stick to the script and oversee its continued expansion. The heavy lifting has already been done IMO.

OAW

True. But how often will a person at this level feel happy sticking to a script. They'll want to prove themselves and this means changes, often in the vein of doing things their way, which was working really well for Dixons group.

Waragainstsleep · Feb 1, 2012, 03:44 AM

I've never been in a Best Buy but am I right in assuming its a bit like the 'Buy More' in Chuck? Thats basically what PC World and Currys are like. Dixons was slightly different/worse before it was absorbed by one of the other two brands.