Fancy gadget, fancy service: Startup Enjoy heads to LA - CNET

Ron Johnson is best known for developing the look of Apple's iconic stores as its head of retail operations, then for nearly ruining J.C. Peey as its short-lived CEO.

You can be excused for not knowing Johnson for his attempt at a third act, this time as the founder and CEO of e-commerce electronics retailer Enjoy, which hand-delivers and helps set up devices for customers. While he launched the startup last May, its services so far have only been available in two markets: San Francisco and New York City.

Now, after testing out those locations for nearly a year, Johnson said Enjoy is ready to start expanding to more places. The company, which has a total of 150 employees, started serving the Los Angeles market on Monday and plans to come to Chicago by May. The Menlo Park, Califoia-based company on Monday also added American Express to its list of about about two dozen partners, allowing the credit card company's customers to use Enjoy delivery as part of its membership rewards program.

"I think you'll see us in many more," Johnson said in an interview about plans to expand to more cities this year.

Enjoy sells high-end tech products like Sonos speakers, GoPro cameras and Apple iPads. The twist is that after you buy a new gadget, it's then hand-delivered for free by an Enjoy expert who spends an hour setting up and offering tips and instructions on how to use the device. Johnson said that despite these additional services Enjoy products don't generally cost more than the same items from rival retailers like Best Buy or Amazon. That's because Enjoy makes up for the added cost by not having stores and keeping a lean inventory, he said.