Ángela Ahrendts responds to criticism about her time at Apple

Angela Ahrendts, former head of Apple's retail segment, has given an interview to Bloomberg where she responds to criticism received about her five-year stint at the company.

Ahrendts: "we did a lot in five years"

The opportunity to take the Apple Store experience "to the next level" and have a greater impact in adjacent communities was one reason why Ahrendts joined Apple. In his interview, he has also cited programs such as Today at Apple , designed to "help rethink the current generation, " as factors in his decision to work for the Cupertino company.

Recalling his mandate, Ahrendts said that the redesign introduced at Apple stores around the world was one of his greatest successes, as was the aforementioned "Today at Apple" program.

As I was saying, I think we were able to redesign the stores and there are incredible flagships in the pipeline for the next four years. But they are not even shops, we call them squares or meeting places because the whole community is welcome.

I think another thing we just talked about is the in-store experience we call Today at Apple today and the fact that we were able to completely redefine and redesign some of the roles and create new positions for teams and create a whole new zone in the store where they could now educate and present all the Today programs at Apple.

When asked about criticism of the changes Apple implemented in its physical stores, Ahrendts said he does not pay attention to them. "I don't read any of that, and none of that is based on fact, " he said. "They are all those who try to find stories."

He went on to say that when he left Apple, customer retention rates were at an all-time high and loyalty percentages reached historic levels.

Ahrendts said he has no regrets and that nothing would have changed in his work, although he wished he had moved faster. "We did a lot in five years, but I always challenge myself to move faster and do more, " he said.

All in all, Ahrendts calls his time at Apple a "mission accomplished" because the company was able to meet the goals of its 5-year plan.

We had a five-year plan, we executed that five-year plan, and there is a tremendous amount in the bedroom that will continue to have an impact on the communities we wanted.

Ahrendts left Apple in mid-April and has since joined the Airbnb board. Her role has been taken over by Deirdre O'Brien, now Apple's Senior Vice President of Sales and People.

Via MacRumors Source Bloomberg