October 15, 2013.

Apple Hires Burberry CEO as Retail Chief

The tiny interior of the shop was in fact uncomfortably full, but there was almost nothing in it of the slightest value. The floorspace was very restricted, because all round the walls were stacked innumerable dusty picture frames. In the window there were trays of nuts and bolts, worn out chisels, penknives with broken blades, tarnished watches that did not even pretend to be in going order, and other miscellaneous rubbish. Only on a small table in the corner was there a litter of odds and ends----lacquered snuffboxes, agate brooches, and the like----which looked as though they might include something interesting. As Winston wandered towards the table his eye was caught by a round, smooth thing that gleamed softly in the lamplight, and he picked it up.

LONDON----Apple Inc. AAPL +0.66%  tapped Angela Ahrendts, currently chief executive of British luxury retailer Burberry Group BRBY.LN -5.24%  PLC, to head up its retail efforts----recruiting a seasoned industry executive credited with turning around the Burberry brand, while filling a big gap in the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant's retail operations.

It was a heavy lump of glass, curved on one side, flat on the other, making almost a hemisphere. There was a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the colour and the texture of the glass. At the heart of it, magnified by the curved surface, there was a strange, pink, convoluted object that recalled a rose or a sea anemone.

Apple said Ms. Ahrendts, 53 years old, would join Apple next year in the newly created position of senior vice president of retail and online stores. She will become a member of the executive team and report directly to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook.

"What is it?" said Winston, fascinated.

Ms. Ahrendts will oversee the "strategic direction, expansion and operation" of both Apple retail and online stores, Apple said. The appointment fills a big gap in Apple's retail operations, stemming from the 2011 departure of Ron Johnson, who vacated the role of senior vice president for retail to join JC Penney Co. JCP -1.63%  Inc. His replacement, John Browett, left the company last year.