With brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• Bloomberg has a piece about Enjoy Technology, described as "a startup that operates mobile retail stores focused on selling and helping users set up technology products."
What makes Enjoy interesting is that its founder is Ron Johnson, who soared when he ran Apple's retail business (and, to be fair, crashed in spectacular fashion when he later ran JC Penney). One of the companies that Enjoy works with is Apple, partnering with the company in eight markets; experts say that the Apple relationship represents a $4 billion opportunity for Enjoy, as it expands around the country.
Enjoy Technology sounds like a kind of mobile Genius Bar, offering free delivery, installation and even consulting services that are underwritten by the retailers with which it works. It is a really smart idea, I think, which is at least part of the reason that it is going public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
While Enjoy may be working with a number of retailers now, I have to wonder if there is an acquisition in its future - Apple could decide that it wants to own the at-home experience to a greater degree. That could mean that it would purchase Enjoy. Or, it could create its own at-home service, which would be bad news for Enjoy.
