Many of the initiatives that were successful at the Apple Stores, for instance the "thought that people would show up in stores because they were fun places to hang out, and that they would buy things listed at full-but-fair price" did not work for the J.C. Penney brand and ended up alienating its customers who were used to heavy discounting. By eliminating the thrill of pursuing markdowns, the “fair and square every day” pricing strategy disenfranchised JC Penney's traditional customer base. Johnson himself was said "to have a disdain for JC Penney’s traditional customer base." When shoppers weren't reacting positively to the disappearance of coupons and sales, Johnson didn't blame the new policies. Instead, he offered the assessment that customers needed to be “educated” as to how the new pricing strategy worked. He also likened the coupons beloved by so many core shoppers as drugs that customers needed to be weaned off." While head of J. C. Penney, Johnson continued to live in California and commuted to work in Plano, Texas by private jet several days a week.