Ron Johnson, the former senior VP for retail at Apple, is the man responsible (with Steve Jobs’ vision, of course) for the amazing and successful Apple Stores. Before Apple, Johnson launched the iconic Target shopping experience. He departed Apple to become the CEO of J.C. Penney — however, Johnson is still reflective on his days at Apple — and wrote about what he learned for the Harvard Business Review:
When I announced that I was leaving Apple to take the reins as CEO of J.C. Penney this month, the business press (and lots of others) began speculating about whether I could replicate the Apple Store’s success in such a dramatically different retail setting. One of the most common comments I heard was that the Apple Store succeeded because it carried Apple products and catered to the brand’s famously passionate customers. Well, yes, Apple products do pull people into stores. But you don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment. You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people. – Ron Johnson via Harvard Business Review, read more