The Apple retail regional director who sold off nine grand opening T-shirts for $155 last month has now turned his back entirely on the company. According to Web sources, Michael Forrest has joined Microsoft Corp. as its new Director of Stores. Forrest had worked for Apple since August 2002 before he suddenly—and perhaps involuntarily—left the company. The T-shirts, which went on sale shortly after he left, indicate that Forrest attended grand openings in New York City, Chicago, Tokyo and London, along with five in U.S. cities. In February Microsoft announced it had hired former Dreamworks SKG executive David Porter as corporate vice-president to head its retail initiative. At the time, the company said the project would “transform the PC and Microsoft buying experience.” Porter was in charge of worldwide product distribution for Dreamworks for two years, and before that was V-P and general merchandise manager for Wal-Mart, part of a 25-year career at that company. Since Microsoft’s announcement, no other details have emerged on the retail initiative, including how many stores and where they will be located.
E-mail this story
Related posts:
Loading ...
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Canned for stealing displays and selling them on eBay? At least they made a profit!
I made the mistake of keeping some posters–putting some on my walls and the rest in my closet, but that was enough to catch the axe.
~*~oh well~*~
Jesus! $155.??? I’ve been GIVING mine away! To relatives, of course! They need the clothing!
I think it should be made clear in there comments, as it was in the story, that he wasn’t fired. I don’t know why you’re all talking about him getting “axed” just because he sold his T-shirts. I have T-shirts, I can see them and not get fired. He probably just got a better offer from Microsoft. Don’t forget their going to be opening a store some time. Ron Johnson is probably getting as good of an offer from Apple as Microsoft would’ve given him, so maybe this guy is the next best man for them. I wish him luck in his new endeavor, just not too much luck.
-Brian
Everyone – I’ve edited to story to indicate that Forrest left Apple and then the T-shirts went on sale.
I know for a fact he got fired.
I’m sure whatever happened was between Michael and Apple. Having worked under him for 2 years, I think very highly of him and his work. He was always extremely invested in the business, and he had an outstanding level of professionalism. He’s someone who I will always respect. I hope he is wildly successful at Microsoft because he is the kind of person who is always concerned with seeing the people under him succeed. I would only wish the same for him as well. Best of luck Michael! :)
LOL — Michael going to MS is absolutely perfect….in 2&1/2 years, he visited our store 3 times for a total or <8 hours. And at that point, there were less than 20 stores in his region.
I used to be a Genius at one of Michael’s stores, and he visted the store once in the 9 months I was there.
One time I had an HR issue with some damaged property, and my store manager said the store would replace the screen in my laptop that was damaged while in the custody of the managers (someone in the manager’s office dropped it or something) and Michael is the one who veto’ed that, saying Apple wasn’t responsible even though it was a manager who made me leave the computer in the manager’s office (it was store policy at the time).
Nice guy, really good to people who work for him–on opposite day. I sure hope Microsoft likes having a dick as Director of Stores.
I was also a MG at one of Michael’s stores. He visited our store several times a year, although I was not always there during his visits. I remember asking him about repairing an employees out of warranty computer. He said “we take care of our people, do the repair”. So unless Forrest told you directly about not fixing your computer then your manager feed you a line of crap because they didn’t want to take accountability for not wanting to fix your computer.
Good luck Forrest! I hop
I agree with “Another Former FL Mac Genius”. Forrest was very kind to us. I worked under him when he was GM of the Chicago store, and he always made sure employee computers were taken care of, regardless of warrantee status. Went out for a drink with us a few times, and fun to be around. Challenged us to be “sales professionals,” which always stuck with me.
If he’s joining Microsoft’s Retail team, they might have a chance to suck not so bad.
I’m still pretty curious as to why and how he left Apple….
If you think Forrest was bad, you obviously never had the misfortune of interacting with his replacement, Linda Turner.
I worked closely with Michael Forrest for about 2 years. And here’s a few facts/opinions. 1) He was fired. 2) He’s a snake. I watched him fire some kid over the phone for a $20 mistake. 3) He would break any rule/policy if he thought it would make him look better. 4) he proudly told me how he forced a genius to install a used part he bought on ebay into a customer’s machine when a part was on backorder instead of following the proper procedures. And then submitted an expense report for the cost of the part. He’ll do just fine at Microsoft.
You must have been the guy he fired for the $20.00 mistake. Bitter party of one. Forrest tought me a lot. Always took time to listen. Then again I worked hard and took pride in what I did.