Target
At Target, Johnson was vice president of merchandising, where he was responsible for launching the Michael Graves line of consumer products.[5]
Apple
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 began a series of mock-ups for the Apple store in a warehouse near the company's headquarters in Cupertino.
Under Johnson's leadership, Apple's retail stores achieved a record level of growth, exceeding a billion dollars in annual sales within two years of their debut, surpassing the previous record set by the Gap clothing retailer. In 2012, Apple operated more than 400 stores, with outlets in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong and Japan.[6] According to Fortune "Saks, whose flagship store is down the street, generates sales of $362 per square foot a year. Best Buy stores turn $930–tops for electronics retailers—while Tiffany & Co. takes in $2,666. Audrey Hepburn liked Tiffany's for breakfast, but at $4,032 per square foot, Apple is eating everyone's lunch".[7] In 2011, Apple Stores in the United States had revenue of $473,000 per employee.[5] According to the research firm RetailSails, the Apple Store chain ranked first among U.S. retailers in terms of sales per unit area in 2011, with sales of US$3,085 per square foot, almost double that of Tiffany & Co., the second retailer on the list.[5]
On October 31, 2007, Johnson exercised 700,000 stock options in Apple shares, with a strike price of $23.72, and then sold the stock later that day for $185 to $185.21 apiece, netting him a $112 million profit. It was reported that Johnson earned $400 million during his seven and a half years at Apple.[8]
JCPenney
After his success at Apple and Target, Johnson was hired as chief executive officer by JCPenney in November 2011, succeeding Mike Ullman, who had been CEO for the preceding seven years. Ullman then was chairman of the board of directors, but was relieved of his duties in January 2013. Bill Ackman, a JCPenney board member and head of hedge fund Pershing Square supported bringing in Johnson to shake up the store's stodgy image and attract new customers. Johnson was given $52.7 million when he joined JCPenney, and he made a $50 million personal investment in the company. After being hired, Johnson tapped Michael Kramer, an Apple Store veteran, as chief operating officer while firing many existing JCPenney executives.[9][10][11]
When Johnson announced his transformation vision in late January 2012, J. CPenney's stock rose 24 percent to $43.[12] Johnson's actual execution, however, was described as "one of the most aggressively unsuccessful tenures in retail history".
Enjoy Technology
In 2014, Johnson founded Enjoy, a startup headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that seeks to reinvent the shopping experience. The company has raised $30 million in funding, co-led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Oak Investment Partners with participation from Andreessen Horowitz. Johnson also committed personal capital to establish the company. The service launched in 2015.[18]
The company went public in 2021, and declared bankruptcy in 2022.[19]
