What do you think?
Rate this book
Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius
The store you know. The story you don’t.
When Steve Jobs hired Ron Johnson to create the Apple Store in 2000, conventional wisdom said that the internet would put stores out of business. By the time he left Apple in 2011, Johnson and his team had created the most respected and profitable retail stores in the world. And even then, skeptics were still predicting the death of physical retail.
In Shop Different, Johnson reveals how it how he earned Jobs’s trust, how they developed a vision for a store that would win not by selling but by serving, and how he convinced Jobs that the store’s service philosophy should be rooted in something as intangible as love. Johnson then gives readers a new look at Apple’s ascent to the most valuable company in the world; offers an inspiring vision for a future in which retailers win on connection, service, and experience; and shares an honest look at what leads to success—and what can follow.
Shop Different is not a traditional business book. It is an insider account of one of the most important retail successes of our time, a guide for anyone trying to lead through technological change, and, in the age of artificial intelligence, a profound reminder of what it means to be human.
When Steve Jobs hired Ron Johnson to create the Apple Store in 2000, conventional wisdom said that the internet would put stores out of business. By the time he left Apple in 2011, Johnson and his team had created the most respected and profitable retail stores in the world. And even then, skeptics were still predicting the death of physical retail.
In Shop Different, Johnson reveals how it how he earned Jobs’s trust, how they developed a vision for a store that would win not by selling but by serving, and how he convinced Jobs that the store’s service philosophy should be rooted in something as intangible as love. Johnson then gives readers a new look at Apple’s ascent to the most valuable company in the world; offers an inspiring vision for a future in which retailers win on connection, service, and experience; and shares an honest look at what leads to success—and what can follow.
Shop Different is not a traditional business book. It is an insider account of one of the most important retail successes of our time, a guide for anyone trying to lead through technological change, and, in the age of artificial intelligence, a profound reminder of what it means to be human.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published September 22, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 25, 2026
This person is trying to rewrite his terrible history. He completely ruined JCPenney. He went bankrupt with his next venture something called Enjoy Technology. Just another arrogant greedy person trying to clean up his record. These days you never know he might even succeed.
September 30, 2026
A great insight that brought back so many good memories. Emotional at times when thinking back to RJ’s time with Steve. I wish he went more into founding enjoy and up to present time to give a full overview of his career.
October 4, 2026
A polished account od how the Apple Store was conceived, designed and brought to life, by the person who run Apple's retail business for the first few years.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews