Ringing the opening bell at the Nasdaq
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stock exchange must have been especially sweet for Ron Johnson, CEO of Enjoy Technology, which today listed under the ticker symbol ENJY following a merger with Marquee Raine Acquisition Corp.

The combined company, now operating as Enjoy Technology, Inc. and led by founder Johnson, raised more than $250 million in growth capital over the course of the transaction to accelerate the growth and expansion plan of the techn-powered service platform that Johnson calls “commerce at home.”

Enjoy partners with Apple
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 and AT&T
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to make last mile deliveries in 10 to 15 minutes, and hopefully be invited into consumers’ homes to demonstrate, educate and facilitate the use of their new electronic devices.

“I’ve been working with team for seven years to build up Enjoy,” Johnson told me today. “To go public in seven or eight years is in the general range, if you’re successful. We [now] have the capital to continue to grow. We’ve got momentum, the trends keep moving in our favor. More and more people are shopping online and getting comfortable with having commerce at home.”

Johnson had a short disastrous run as CEO of JC Penney
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and in 2013 was ousted. The experience has dogged him since and he’s happy to be vindicated by Enjoy’s success.

With commerce increasingly shifting to the home, consumers are demanding experiences, especially for premium, high-touch, tech products such as smartphones, devices, and more. Johnson said that in the age of Amazon, consumers expect speed and service, and traditional e-commerce has been struggling with last mile delivery to provide both.

The CEO said Enjoy in September quietly announced to investors that it would provide last mile delivery to consumers for its partners. “To make that happen, our partners had to integrate us into their web sites,” Johnson said. “A lightbulb finally went on and they said, ‘Why don’t we have you be our delivery partner too.’ We’ll do the to-the-door drop off and [then go] through the door.”

Johnson calls this the Smart Last Mile, and said it will substantially increase the number of customers Enjoy serves, adding, “70% of time people say, yes.” The last mile delivery will launch in North America in time for holiday season. Enjoy will also take returns off consumers’ hands, which is costly for retailers, and the company receives inventory from its partners, so there will be no shortages this Christmas.

Enjoy is also branching out into a lot more locations, expanding into new markets with Apple, from four at the beginning of the year to 14, and tripling population coverage to more than 67 million consumers.

Among the markets Enjoy will add in 2022 are Fort Meyers and Naples, Florida, where Apple operates three stores there. “It’s not a small area,” Johnson said, noting that Enjoy is in Miami and Jacksonville, Florida already. “Over the summer, we tripled our coverage with Apple.”

Other existing markets include the San Francisco Bay area, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, Houston and all of New York other than Manhattan, but Johnson thinks that will happen soon.

How will Enjoy scale in Manhattan? “There’s a Duane Reade drug store on every corner,” he said. “There’s enough demand to support these stores and make money.”

In addition, quick grocery delivery services are taking advantage of empty storefronts in Manhattan and retailers are hiring delivery contractors who are lining up to pick, pack and deliver to consumers. Meanwhile, giants such as Walmart Inc. is offering last mile delivery services to large and small retailers.

“The key to that is we have the inventory,” he said. “We don’t have the fixed costs. We’re driving around in our vehicles. We’re doing it in real time – our trading area is dynamic. Every time we can take that order, we can deliver it in 10 to 15 minutes.

“The big news is we’re going to continue to execute with the partners we have,” Johnson said. “We’re going to earn a higher share of their customer base. We already have the skills to do it, and it’s better in terms of profitability. We’ll add our next country in 2023. Long term we want to be a global operator of mobile stores.”

Revenue on track for 2021 to hit $109 million, and Johnson said he’s confident about achieving 2021 and 2022 forecasted revenue per visit.

Johnson has it all figured out. “AT&T and Apple are big companies,” Johnson said. “They know consumers will upgrade with a new product every two or three years. Apple invests millions in building relationships with its consumers. It built out its Apple+ [streaming service to compete with Amazon]. “Every time a person upgrades, ideally they’ll go to one of their stores. We can do that for them. We provide the engagement a company needs to deepen its relationships with its customers.”

Johnson said he debated early on whether there really a consumer need for Enjoy. “I spend time in the industry,” he said. “If you look far out enough, you can see what’s happening: There will be fewer stores, more people starting their search for products online, and a lot of people competing for fast delivery.

“ Nobody has thought about bringing a store to the home. We’re bringing a store to the home fast. A lot of people are getting to the door, but we can get through the door,” Johnson said, noting that there will be times when consumers want to visit a store and engage with a tech specialist, and times when they don’t.

According to experts, Apple has been a victim of its own success, and consumers complain that some of their stores are crowded and it’s difficult or intimidating to get an appointment with the tech specialists at its Genius Bars.

Johnson, who once told me he’d like to pursue fashion and beauty with the same business model, said he’s decided to forgo the categories for the moment.

“It’s a distraction,” he said. “We have so much growth ahead. Every bone in my body says that 10 years from now you’ll be able to shop at home for all the premium categories.

“Women always shopped at home for Avon and Mary Kay,” Johnson added. “Kohl’s
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pulled in Ulta. I think beauty is a great category for Enjoy or someone to do. I think fashion will happen due to the cost of returns.

“We met with LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton,” Johnson revealed. “They’re experimenting with how do they bring the store to the customer.”