零售业激进改革派的新挑战（节选）

    曼哈顿57号码头很久都没有这么热闹过了。这里曾经是停泊远洋油轮的地方，眼下，破旧的建筑里到处都是带着头戴式耳机的工人在搬运梯子和舞台灯。斑驳的墙面被亮白色的布遮挡起来。方形霓虹灯牌上标着英文小写字母“jcp”标志，让人感觉这里更像是一场后现代派的艺术展。映射在墙上的投影显示出一团团飘动于蓝天之上的白色云朵，虽已入夜，却感觉如同白昼一般。

    散发光芒的不只是墙上的投影，也可能是J.C. Penney服饰百货公司新任CEO罗恩•约翰逊那百折不挠的乐观主义精神。听听他自己怎么说吧，他说J.C.Penny的黎明再次降临。罗恩•约翰逊在视察准备工作时高兴地嚷道：“我太喜欢这些云朵了！”一天半之后，他将在这里招待1,200名记者、分析师、商家和零售行业名流，比如卡尔文•克莱恩和玛莎•斯图尔特。他将在此公布自己对这家百年老店的激进改革方案。目前该公司年收入为173亿美元。

    约翰逊在检查时说：“效果一定非常不错！”他语气轻快，同时透着一丝冷静。他在详细查看细节工作时简直是老东家史蒂夫•乔布斯的翻版，只是比后者更爽朗、更善解人意。他仔细衡量云朵飘移的速度，重新整理人形模特身上的衣服，询问餐饮准备情况，还否决了商家问答环节（他说：“我们今天是要展示公司的愿景”）。他甚至还对现场的移动厕所赞叹了一番。这是他的亮相派对，他希望一切尽善尽美。

    多年以来，约翰逊一直隐身在幕后，但不要忘记，有两个非常重要的零售概念是他建立起来的。在塔吉特百货公司时，他与迈克尔•格雷夫斯合作，努力让公司把合理价格和出色设计结合起来。在苹果公司时，他又与乔布斯一道开创了全球利润最丰厚的零售店。

    现年53岁的约翰逊正迎来个人最艰巨的挑战。在目前这个中产阶级自身都岌岌可危的时期，面向中产顾客的J.C.Penney品牌正在走下坡路。而一天半之后，在57号码头那些云朵前，约翰逊将公开发表声明：努力扭转J.C. Penney公司的困境，并在2015年底前将J.C.Penney打造为“全美最受欢迎的商店”。请注意，不是“全美最受欢迎的百货商店”，而是“所有商店类型中最受欢迎的总冠军”。

    为了吸引客户，约翰逊公布了一项极度简化的定价策略，并精简品牌，改变店铺布局，在“城市广场”周边布设小型精品服装店。他的目标是重新恢复人们对这家百货公司的认同感。它不仅是个购物场所，还充满了发现新事物的乐趣。

    新的定价策略雄心勃勃，同时也充满风险。消费者已经习惯于在Penney和其他百货公司大举促销时前往购物。在线购物时代已经来临，没多少人愿意去逛J.C.Penney这种品牌优势已经衰减的百货商店。约翰逊对此心知肚明，但他似乎对这项挑战很有兴趣。在他诚挚认真的学院风格外表之后，跳动着一颗渴望变革的心。现在的消费者可能一次只买一条4美元的毛巾，他热切希望改变消费者的购物体验。

    约翰逊说：“人们希望能够归属于某种更深层次的东西。”从童年时开始，他就拥有一种近乎神奇的能力，善于领导并让他人感觉到归属感，仿佛自己正投身于一项伟大的事业。他朝气蓬勃，并与人为善。他还是一位主日学校教师和美国少年棒球联合会（Little League）教练。他为人夫，也为人父。他的家庭教育背景完全是诺曼•洛克威尔（美国20世纪早期的重要画家——译注）式的：他成长于明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯的富人郊区伊代纳。他父亲曾经担任通用磨坊公司（General Mills）的高管，母亲曾是一名护士，后来做了家庭主妇。约翰逊是一个好学生，也是一名非常出色的运动员，他曾担任棒球队和足球队队长。他的儿时伙伴查克•慕提表示：“比起他的才华，人们更欣赏他坚持不懈的精神。他具有百折不挠的勇气。”

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    译者：李玫晓/汪皓

    It's been a long time since Manhattan's Pier 57 has seen this much action. Once home to ocean liners, the decaying structure is filled with headset-wearing workers toting ladders and stage lights. The mottled walls have been hidden by bright white fabric. Neon squares with a lowercase "jcp" bring to mind a postmodern art show. It's night but it feels like day has broken as puffy white clouds move on a blue sky projected against the walls.

    Or perhaps it's just the relentless optimism of Ron Johnson, J.C. Penney's new CEO. To hear him tell it, it's morning again at the company. "Love the clouds!" exults Johnson, who is inspecting the preparations. In just 36 hours he will host 1,200 reporters, analysts, vendors, and retail celebrities such as Calvin Klein and Martha Stewart as he unveils his radical reinvention of the century-old department store company, which has $17.3 billion in annual revenue.

    "Wow! This is going to be great," Johnson says, sounding simultaneously giddy and calm. He's like a chipper, empathetic version of his old boss Steve Jobs, as he checks detail after detail. He ponders the speed of the clouds, re-pins the clothes on a mannequin, inquires about the food, vetoes a Q&A for the vendors ("We're here to present a vision"), and even admires the porta-potties. This is his coming-out party, and he wants it to be perfect.

    Johnson has spent years in the shadows, hatching two of the most significant retail concepts in a generation. At Target (TGT) he made the deal with Michael Graves that helped the company meld good prices with great design. At Apple (AAPL) he worked with Jobs to create the most profitable retail store in the world.

    Now Johnson, 53, is embarking on his toughest challenge. In front of those clouds at Pier 57 a day and a half later, he proclaimed that he would turn J.C. Penney (JCP) -- a dowdy brand aimed at the middle class at a time when the middle class itself is in peril -- into "America's favorite store" by the end of 2015. Not America's favorite department store, mind you; America's favorite store of any type.

    To attract customers, Johnson unveiled a radically simplified pricing strategy, a slimmed-down but improved selection of brands, and a change in the store's layout, which will consist exclusively of mini-boutiques arrayed around a "town square." His goal is to reclaim the department store's long-lost identity as a place shoppers visit not only for the goods but also for the enchantment of discovering something new.

    The new pricing strategy is ambitious -- and risky. Customers have been trained by Penney's and others to hold out for massive discounts. In the era of online shopping, few have the inclination to visit a store with a faded brand like J.C. Penney's. Johnson knows all of that and seems to relish the challenge. Behind his preppy, earnest exterior beats the heart of someone who is out to change the experience of today's shopper -- one $4 towel at a time.

    People want to belong to something deeper," says Johnson. Since childhood he has had a near-messianic ability to lead people and make them feel as if they belong, as if they're part of a great cause. He's almost cartoonishly wholesome and nice, a Sunday-school teacher, Little League coach, husband, and dad whose upbringing was pure Norman Rockwell: He grew up in Edina, Minn., a well-heeled suburb of Minneapolis, the son of a General Mills (GIS) executive and a nurse turned homemaker. Johnson was a good student and a great athlete, captaining the baseball and soccer teams. Says childhood friend Chuck Mooty: "What people loved more about him than his talent was his persistence. He was just relentless."