Angela Ahrendts will depart Apple in April, almost exactly five years after taking on a role as the company’s senior vice president of retail. Apple says Ahrendts is leaving “for new personal and professional pursuits.”
Ahrendts joining Apple in 2014 was massive news, with her having just served as the CEO of the luxury fashion brand Burberry from 2006 to 2014. She led the charge to “reimagine” Apple’s retail stores, shifting them to what she hoped felt more like a “modern-day town square.” Her in-store product education program, “Today at Apple,” launched around two years ago, and the company continues to add new courses on the regular.
The company says Ahrendts’ responsibilities will now be handled by Deirdre O’Brien, whose title is changing from “senior vice president of People” to “senior vice president of Retail + People.” O’Brien joined Apple 30 years ago in 1988; her leadership profile on Apple’s site notes that prior to her VP of People role, she was “responsible for demand forecasting, supply planning and delivery of Apple products” as the head of Worldwide Sales and Operations.