According to Bloomberg, despite Apple’s hiring in August of executive talent search firm Egon Zehnder International, it may instead end up hiring someone internally if an outside search isn’t coming up with any results. An earlier report from Cult of Mac had pegged Apple’s current VP of Retail, Steve Cano, as Johnson’s replacement, but Apple refuted those claims.

Apple said via a spokesperson that its “search is under way with lots of interest,” and noted that the company is “carefully selecting Ron’s successor,” in a statement to Bloomberg. But in the meantime, it’s hardly business as usual for Apple Retail stores.

Just last week, Apple launched its revamped iOS Apple Store application, which provides ship-to-store ordering and EasyPay self-payment options to U.S. Apple retail locations. I argued that this represents another potential revolution sparked by Apple in brick-and-mortar sales, and now there’s a new report circulating that more changes are still to come.

On Saturday, 9t05Mac reported Apple will be making iPads the new wonder tool of the Apple Store Genius Bar, replacing MacBook Pros that have long been in service. Geniuses toting iPads would employ special software to determine if a user’s device was eligible for repair, diagnose problems and even order replacement parts. For Apple, this represents cost-savings; an iPad is much cheaper than a MacBook Pro, after all. But the real benefit will be for customers seeking Genius help, since it’ll make Genius work spaces less cluttered and more comfortable, and keep Geniuses much more mobile.

So despite Apple’s lack of a formal helmsman in place for its retail operations, the ship is sailing quite nicely, and even venturing outside its established routes. Good to see that even with a hugely successful retail model already in place, and in the midst of a highly transitional period, Apple still strives to bring its A-game to an area where it continues to have a steady, albeit les- publicized impact on a global scale.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad’s rule continues
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft

This weekend featured the grand opening of Apple’s latest retail store, Scottsdale Quarter, in beautiful Scottsdale, Ariz. As evidenced by looking at the front of the building, this particular store quickly stands out among the rest of Apple’s retail lineup.

Hello, New Architecture

A few weeks ago, Ron Johnson was featured in USA Today discussing new changes that were coming to retail stores, including more Genius Bar space and larger tables to feature even more products. As you can see, the Scottsdale Quarter store is one of the first new retail store to incorporate some of these new design elements.

With features such as a front and rear made of all glass and a beautiful 75-foot skylight that spans the length of the store, Apple has clearly designed this location to take advantage of Arizona’s abundance of natural light. Additionally, the 20-foot ceilings and spacious entry area help to accent the more open feel of the store.

The Return of the Family Room Concept

The back of the store is similar to most stores but features a unique split Genius Bar with tables in the middle for One to One sessions. Recent store designs have utilized the back walls near the Genius Bar to feature additional third-party products, but this departure moves Apple’s idea of the “Family Room” back to its core with the rear section of the store entirely devoted to services. The split Genius Bar should help alleviate crowding during busy times and allow the store flexibility to run one bar as a Mac queue and another for iPod and iPhone queues if needed.

The first three images below are from Apple.com. A special thanks to photographer Brian Hancock for the opening day photos; you can view more from his web site.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft

Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of retail, explained that new tables would provide room for twice the amount of products to be displayed while the average Genius Bar will see a 50 percent space increase.

It’s a tough time for businesses to be trying to grow, but despite Apple’s most recent sales downturn (a 3 percent dip in the last quarter) the company sees it as the right time to expand its on-the-street retail presence. Johnson added, “We know that a lot of people are cutting back, but we’re doing the opposite. We’re investing in the downturn.”

No kidding; As well as the remodeling efforts, Apple is also building 25 brand-new stores in locations including New York City, Paris, Italy and Germany.

Johnson admits, however, that the current economic climate has had an impact. While customer foot-fall in Apple stores is still healthy, it’s not as strong as last year, though that was due in no small part to the launch of the iPhone 3G. Perhaps the introduction of a next-generation iPhone can help improve that situation this summer.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce

Since news came out that Microsoft would be deploying a “Microsoft Gurus” program as part of their $300 million effort to improve their image, they have been consistently compared to ripping off Apple’s “Genius Bar” program.

Microsoft Gurus is program Microsoft is starting up where they will deploy customer-service reps to various electronics retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City. The purpose of these representatives will be to help potential customers learn how Microsoft’s products “work together” by giving demos and answering questions.

While Microsoft Gurus have indeed drawn comparisons to Apple’s Genius Bar, they aren’t really the same thing.

Microsoft Gurus are pre-sales customer-service reps. They offer no help with your existing products or any sort of real technical support. Their main purpose is to show potential customers “the interconnectedness of Microsoft’s Windows products,” according to Microsoft’s general manager of corporate communications, Tom Pilla.

My first thought on this was that there would be a real conflict of interest having a Microsoft employee floating around an electronics store but Pillas says that Gurus are not paid on commission. Instead, performance is measured by the Guru’s “ability to translate the technology to a language consumers feel comfortable with.” Whatever that means.

I don’t feel comfortable with Microsoft translating anything for me…especially if their standard for good communication is anything remotely close to how they translate their technology with their most recent commercial.

Microsoft has been piloting about 25 of these Gurus for the past 10 months with apparently enough success to expand to 155 Gurus by the end of the year.

What do you think? Is this just Microsoft blatantly copying Apple again? Is there a conflict of interest having a Microsoft employee in an electronics store? Let me know your thoughts.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft
• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview

As if the battery wasn’t suspect enough, I discovered (in an effort to save the power) that I couldn’t actually turn the iPhone off. Any attempt to do so resulted in the phone immediately restarting, and going about its normal business. Very frustrating.

Even with all this, I was still nervous taking it to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store. I had put it off, knowing full well I should go, but still I made excuses…until this morning, when the iPhone became a dead brick for 15 minutes (thankfully I was able to resurrect it) after it had been unplugged for an hour. Clearly it was time to go.

But I was still nervous about taking it to Apple. Since I’d never had to actually go in an complain about an Apple product, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had previous customer service return experiences swirling around in my head, so I was prepared for a fight. I armed myself with a mental list of my issues and rehearsed what I was going to say. Those Genius Bar guys wouldn’t know what hit ‘em.

But when I got there, all I had to say was “Dude, it’s doing this,” and within 5 minutes I had a brand new iPhone. I watched in amazement as two geniuses tag teamed my old iPhone to take off my protective anti-glare film and slap it on my new one. They where kidding around with me and each other during the whole process, and seemed to be having fun. The whole experience was completely enjoyable. I have now been blown away by yet another aspect of Apple’s business.

So if you’ve been holding out on taking in a seemly faulty product, don’t put it off any longer. And if the battery on your iPhone starts to drop a bit, take a gander at your usage between charges. If it’s way out of whack, take that puppy in pronto. Odds are you’ll be glad you did.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview
• In Q3, E-books and White Spaces Ruled