View this article at: http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/01/26/nyt.looks.at.genius.bars/ Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005 9:45pm Genius Bars: "the soul" of Apple's retail stores Apple's Genius Bars are the soul of its retail stores, according to Apple VP Ron Johnson. A New York Times article discusses the "increasingly rare" free face-to-face technical support phenomenon, the Geniuses themselves, the evolution of the concept, and its inspiration: "The concept of a bar came to Mr. Johnson one night when he was thinking about the kind of environment Apple wanted to create in its stores. He said he was inspired by Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton and other hotels where service is paramount. 'We believed you had to bring the people dimension back into retail,' said Mr. Johnson, who joined Apple five years ago after 15 years at Target. 'We thought, What about giving tech support that's as welcoming as the bar at the Ritz?'"