It was Johnson who masterminded Apple’s retail plan.
The following year, Apple hired Ron Johnson, a former Target marketing executive who transformed Target from a K-Mart clone into a trendy retail destination for those seeking inexpensive but well-designed housewares. In 1999, Apple added Millard “Mickey” Drexler, President and CEO of The Gap, to its Board of Directors to give the company a touch of seasoned retail experience. When the company decided it needed to expand into retail on its own, Steve Jobs looked to the outside and hired the best experts he could find to help the cause. Their locations were carefully planned, as Apple had invisibly divided the space into sections via understated signs hanging overhead.Īround the turn of the century, Apple had been plagued with a decade of bad retail experiences at the hands of others. Apple had laid out its products-colorful, translucent iMacs and Power Macs among them-on wall-length, bar-height tables and white, kidney-shaped platforms throughout the store. Inside, he found a spotless, well-lit space decorated with light wood, brushed steel, and crystal white glass. He had been waiting some six hours for the opportunity. History tells that a man named Chris Barylick (who has contributed as a writer to Macworld) was the first customer inside. The doors of the Virginia store opened around 10 a.m. In California, some 2600 miles away, hundreds of similarly-minded people lined up to enter the west coast’s first Apple Store, which was due to open later in the day. One visitor to the store, “I’ve never seen anything like this, here or at any mall for that matter.” “I have lived in this area for 17 years,” said
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