Ron Johnson is no ordinary guy in the retail business. He's had his share of ups and downs: a successful stint as Apple Store chief along with Steve Jobs -- and a not-so remarkable one, as chief executive officer of J.C. Penney.
But Johnson's comprehensive retail business resume has enabled him to easily spot inflection points, a period when a company must respond effectively to disruptive change in the business environment or face collapse. The former retail CEO said that Amazon is now at a crossroads after dominating retail in the last 10 years.
Johnson doesn't hold back on his opinion and thinks the next decade will be very tough for Amazon: "They are on their heels," he said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
According to Johnson, Amazon is an "interesting place" and the company has nothing to do with state regulators starting to sniff around the business infrastructure of internet retailers pioneered by Trump detractor, Jeff Bezos.
For Johnson, the retail business all about how old school stores rebrand themselves, and not just focus on competing with Amazon, but on their clients.
Take, for instance, Target, picked by Yahoo Finance as Company of the Year. The retail discount chain has transformed their store network into one of its biggest money-making sources, rolling out a vast array of delivery choiices that drive big-time profits. Thanks to that reinvention, Target's share price has ballooned in the last four quarters.
Rival Walmart, on the other hand, did the same, in turn transforming physical shops into distribution hubs in real-time. Shareholders also compensated the company's stock price.
Mostly these are skills Amazon has not had to compete with from big name rivals in the last decade. Now, in an effort to protect its turf, it has to shell out billions on same-day delivery services.
Old-school retail companies are not the only ones driving big change. Lululemon is enjoying brisk sales amid a growing network of small stores that double as fitness studios. Peloton is building showrooms as it aims to gather data about prospective customers.
For its new stores, Canada Goose reshaped its retail shopping concept: In the shops is a giant ice box that lets customers test out Arctic-proof jackets.
Simply put, the retail market is rapidly changing. Amazon is still a force to reckon with, but it will soon become aware that its competitors are nipping at its toes.
