Ron Johnson | |
---|---|
Born | October 15, 1959 |
Residence | Atherton, California |
Nationality | United States |
Education |
Stanford University (B.A.) Harvard Business School (M.B.A.) |
Occupation | Head of Enjoy (a startup company) |
Known for | Business executive |
Home town | Edina, Minnesota |
Ron Johnson (born October 15, 1959) is the former chief executive officer of J. C. Penney. He was responsible for a major rebrand of J. C. Penney, which later led to company shares declining 51% and his firing in 2013. Previously, he was the senior vice president of retail operations at Apple Inc., where he pioneered the concept of the Apple Retail Stores and the Genius Bar, and the vice president of merchandising for Target Corporation, where he was credited for making the store "hip." He is currently the head of Enjoy, a startup company.
Johnson grew up in Edina, Minnesota, the son of an executive at General Mills and a homemaker. He was captain of the Edina High School soccer and baseball teams. Johnson received his master of business administration from Harvard Business School and his bachelor of arts in economics from Stanford University. He lives in Atherton, California.
At Target, Johnson was vice president of merchandising, where he was responsible for launching the Michael Graves line of consumer products.
Johnson joined Apple Inc. as senior vice president of retail operations in January 2000. At the suggestion of Millard Drexler (an Apple director and CEO of Gap Inc.), Johnson's retail team and a development team headed by Allen Moyer from The Walt Disney Company then began a series of mock-ups for the Apple store in a warehouse near the company's headquarters in Cupertino.