Will Ron Johnson ‘Enjoy’ his comeback?

If he can deliver on what he says it will be successful. I get this kind of service now as do a lot of us. My concern is the quality of the tech support. No one likes it when we know more than the tech support they send over.

I would not second guess Ron’s failures. He took on a job of steering the Titanic. Doesn’t matter who was in charge, it was going to turn out badly. You have to admire people who take on jobs where you know the best case scenario is losing.

As they say in rock and roll: it’s not that hard to launch a nostalgia tour when you were a one-hit wonder, but you’re more likely to sell out the Holiday Inn in Omaha than Wembley Stadium.

First of all, Mr. Johnson’s expertise is in physical stores, albeit recently physical stores more or less backed up by some kind of an e-commerce element.

That said, let’s look at the value proposition.

No doubt he has identified a niche market, and that may be the problem.

Baffled Boomers trying to decode the secrets of their mobile phones can already get tutorials at their mobile provider. Apple customers can go to the Genius Bar. Best Buy has the Geek Squad and on and on.

What’s different here?

Ah yes, the fact that a total stranger armed in full nerd armor will be coming into your home and walking you through your electronics. And that will work because people always want to spend an hour with a total stranger, huddled over an appliance with few or no witnesses.

Again, I think he’s found a niche alright, but Mr. Johnson isn’t a niche guy — unless it’s a niche as big as Apple’s.

Could this (with VERY selective and careful employee screening) be a boutique offering in selected cities? Of course, so could in-home orchid pruning.

Will it scale to a national offering rivaling his former glory? Better cancel that ticket to England and call the Holiday Inn in Omaha for reservations instead.

There is a HUGE difference between trying to turn around a battered battleship and the opportunity to create your own speedboat. Entirely different situations, and Ron Johnson’s talents are aligned with the later.

The new “P” for today’s consumer is most definitely personalization! Who wouldn’t want to have their own Genius visit them and set everything up and teach them how to use it? With today’s complicated devices that now must all connect, it’s a home run waiting to happen.

Just one thing — how does Ron’s business model work and support all of this?

According to Ron: “Our product is a person, and now for the same price you buy in a store.” OK, maybe they can charge the same Genius hour rates, but who pays for the extra expense of travel and costs associated with delivering and unpacking products? Is there a substantial infrastructure somewhere? And what about quality control, not to mention liability issues of services in-home?

Retailers are struggling to be profitable, even if they offer “geeks and tech benches.” The one notable exception is Apple Stores, yet you still have to go to a store to visit a Genius or Studio Bar (I have to believe that there are both financial and legal reasons for that).

Will Ron’s Enjoy concept succeed? It is absolutely the right personalized service that consumers will love and crave. But at some point there has to be a scalable business model and/or enough very high margin products that will support all of the costs of delivering both the product and the Genius to your door.

How about Apple Watches on a silver tray from the Enjoy Genius at your door?

I give him credit for constantly trying to be relevant, but this may be a tough sell as somehow, someway, there needs to be a profit somewhere. In this business it is thinner margins than ever before. Super high-end stuff, if handled properly, I believe could be a nice niche, but these smart TVs my wife and kids can set up in 20 minutes without all the hassle.

Going after the total home stereo business with a guarantee of great service could be a winner and those with very high incomes would welcome this service, as many home stereo stores are no longer in business. You can get free lessons on YouTube on how to program your cell phone, and unless consumers are willing to pay more for their phones, how can this venture make money? I get a new phone every two years for free, with free install and help, so why would anyone pay big bucks for a smartphone to be delivered and set up when the local phone store or online tutorials are available for free?

There must be a ton of money out there from venture capitalists, as many new startups are getting millions without ever selling one unit of anything. If Ron Johnson can get the capital, than why not take it and try to parlay it into some serious cash? Go for it Ron.

Sorry folks. This guy makes my stomach hurt.

For what he did to J.C. Penney he should be in prison. Lose $7 billion in sales? How many folks were harmed? Collude with Martha to screw Macy’s? He is a bonafide bum.

Genius of the Apple Store. C’mon, Apple was entrenched as America’s darling brand. Jobs was as close to wizard, if not messiah, as anyone gets. Jobs envisioned mobility unlike anyone else. Johnson put iPods, iPhones and Macs on tables and sold them. Genius?  Apple Stores are like awesome fishing tackle stores. Great ones have a few Geniuses behind the reel case. Consultative selling in a one-category store with high end, high margin goods with clueless customers.

In his own words, he struggled to get Michael Graves on the shelf. He was a home merchant. He didn’t create “Tar-zhay.”

So the oracle speaks and all await the word …

To me, more like false prophet. Sell tech products and send along service to install in-home. In Chicago, that’s Abt Electronics.

Roll it out nationally? OK good luck with that. Look at all the home improvement retailers with “do it for you” networks. Is his strength getting alignment because this is national compliance across a network of entrepreneurs, not the massive control of a Jobsian dictatorship?

Idolize Johnson? More like “wake up!”

Or as we like to say, “retail ain’t for sissies.”

This is one of the ideas that keeps appearing. In some ways it is not new as installation and delivery services in some form or another have existed in the CE industry for some time. That said, the challenges will center around how to match retail pricing while also offering these services. It will take scale to work and a good deal of management of the actual staff doing the work. No easy task as you could ask Best Buy, or Sears or now Amazon. However, the need for this at a consumer level is clear. It will be very interesting to see how this works out.