---
title: "'Shop Different': Apple Retail Pioneer Ron Johnso..."
description: "Via MacRumors: Back in 1999, unhappy at how Macs were being positioned in traditional computer retail stores, Steve Jobs decided that Apple needed to make it..."
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### 'Shop Different': Apple Retail Pioneer Ron Johnson Shares Inside Story

MacRumors • September 18, 2026 at 1:37 PM ET

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Back in 1999, unhappy at how Macs were being positioned in traditional computer retail stores, Steve Jobs decided that Apple needed to make its own push into retail. The man he brought on to lead the initiative was Ron Johnson, previously the vice president of merchandising at Target.

Johnson and writer Zander Nethercutt have teamed up for a new book entitled \*Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius\*, releasing next Tuesday, September 22. \*Shop Different* covers Johnson's background including his time at department store Mervyn's and at Target, but the bulk of the book unsurprisingly focuses on his work at Apple as his biggest success story.

Johnson started at Apple on February 1, 2000, and he worked hand-in-hand with Jobs and other Apple executives to develop a vision and buildout plan for Apple retail stores, leading to the opening of the company's first two stores in May 2001. While Apple retail stores have become iconic landmarks and sought-after mall anchors in over 20 countries around the world, their success was not always a given, and \*Shop Different* goes into detail on the trials and tribulations of developing the first stores and their weak early performance.

In the latter portions of \*Shop Different\*, Johnson shares some touching moments from his interactions with Jobs as pancreatic cancer took its toll on the Apple founder, as well as Johnson's transition to CEO of department store JCPenney. In talking with Johnson, I asked whether he felt the evolution of Apple retail since his departure fifteen years ago has remained true to the vision he and Jobs had from the beginning, across several different retail chiefs with varying backgrounds.

[Read original article](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/18/shop-different-ron-johnson-apple-retail-book/)

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