Jerry McDougal, vice president of retail, retires from Apple

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Apple's vice president of retail, Jerry McDougal, has left the company in order to spend more time with his family. McDougal previously reported to Ron Johnson, before Johnson left for JC Penny, and most recently, John Browett, before Browett was let go from the position. Gary Allen of InfoAppleStore reports:

There is no word about who will replace McDougal. Outside speculation on the Sr. VP position is focused on Bob Bridger, VP of Retail Real Estate and Development, and Steve Cano, VP of Retail. Both are long-time Apple retail employees.

Apple Retail is one of Apple's crown jewels, and the most direct, most customer facing part of their strategy to both delight with, and sell gobsmacking amounts of, their products. With Johnson gone, Browett a non-starter, and now McDougal leaving, Tim Cook faces the challenge of shoring up and securing the future of that key division.

Update: Apple's Steve Dowling gave a statement to John Paczkowski of AllThingsD, saying in part:

[Apple VP of Finance] Jim Bean is moving to Retail to help support our store teams. Jim has been at Apple for 15 years and is a great leader who understands our culture and focus on customer service."

Source: InfoAppleStore, AllThingsD

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

5 Comments
  • I want his retirement check.
  • Let me see if I have this right. Jerry had 12 years experience as VP of retail, working under Ron Johnson for a good portion of that. He was passed over for Browett? Then when Browett was fired he still wasn't given the opportunity? I don't get this at all. If he was good enough to be VP why wasn't he considered for the SVP position? Starting to wonder whats going on.
  • Time to jump the ship.
  • Yeah, the resistance to promoting from within, especially considering the Browett debacle, raises a lot of questions.
  • The inner workings of Apple is hard to understand. When I hear "leaving to spend time with family" I read in-between the lines. Was he passed over for a promotion, when he would be the logical choice. That can really bother some, where others will continue to work hard, even tho they were never promoted. Some say "sinking ship" I doubt that, but something is going on internally, and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.