Google opens its first branded retail store

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

Google is taking its biggest step yet into the world of bricks-and-mortar retail.


 

On Wednesday, the Internet giant opened its first branded store in London, which is being used to showcase a range of Google products, including Chromebooks, Android phones and Chromecast dongles
 

Unlike the Apple Store, however, the Google store is really a store within a store. In this case, it's housed inside of is Currys PC World, a UK electronics retailer.
 

“The pace of innovation of the devices we all use is incredible, yet the way we buy them has remained the same for years," James Elias, Google's UK marketing director, said in a statement at the store launch. "With the Google shop, we want to offer people a place where they can play, experiment and learn about all of what Google has to offer; from an incredible range of devices to a totally-connected, seamless online life. We think it’s a genuinely unique try-before-you-buy experience.”

 

  

Google previously launched an in-store experience at the same UK retailer in 2011, solely for the purpose of marketing its Chromebook laptops. The shop announced Wednesday is a much more scaled-up retail experience. As you might expect from Google, it is filled with plenty of geeky playfulness, including an interactive Google Earth installation and a large "doodle wall."

Source : http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/03/11/google-opens-first-google-branded-store-in-london/

[Arty]

It is about time

still waiting for them to take the world over...might be a while....

[Sauron]

Here in Italy a lot of apple stores are nested inside larger shops, it would be pretty much the same thing here. Cool I suppose, although chromebooks aren't really for me (especially when the asus t100ta can be had for less than 300 bucks).

[boboman342]

Shouldn't they try an online store first?

[Lolzious]

pretty cool, I suppose. Although as long as they keep Chrome around, I don't give a fuck about what they do :'D

[insayan]

Good, hope it spreads to more countries as well. Chromebooks and the Nexus line still seem to be a niche here

Shouldn't they try an online store first?

 

The have, it's called the play store.

[Mew]

Looks nice, it'll be a great place to get reliable wifi when you're browsing the mall.

[jayctech]

As much as I love Google - do they really sell a large enough variety items (physically) to warrant a store? I guess it'd be an easy help center for people that are confused by their android phones or would like to speak to someone in person to get assistance from.

 

Hopefully the customer service will be on par with those in Apple stores.

[boboman342]

 

Good, hope it spreads to more countries as well. Chromebooks and the Nexus line still seem to be a niche here

 

The have, it's called the play store.

 

I meant like ordering physical items

[euniqe]

As much as I love Google - do they really sell a large enough variety items (physically) to warrant a store? I guess it'd be an easy help center for people that are confused by their android phones or would like to speak to someone in person to get assistance from.

 

Hopefully the customer service will be on par with those in Apple stores.

 

 

This is why they didn't open a brand new store. They simply setup shop inside an existing store.

[DildorTheDecent]

You know it is London due to these little dudes. The Queen's Guard.

[RedSpade]

As much as I love Google - do they really sell a large enough variety items (physically) to warrant a store? I guess it'd be an easy help center for people that are confused by their android phones or would like to speak to someone in person to get assistance from.

 

Hopefully the customer service will be on par with those in Apple stores.

Apart from just their devices, I'm assuming they'll sell google play editions of phones, wear devices, accessories and chromebooks (quite a lot of them). They'd have a range similar to or bigger than apple imo.

 

I'm assuming customer service will be very good as it is the best I've ever dealt with.

[Mushious]

I meant like ordering physical items

You can do that on the Play Store.

[bobhays]

As much as I love Google - do they really sell a large enough variety items (physically) to warrant a store? I guess it'd be an easy help center for people that are confused by their android phones or would like to speak to someone in person to get assistance from.

 

Hopefully the customer service will be on par with those in Apple stores.

I think it's more of a display store to show what they offer, but they could also be selling android phones, tablets, chromebooks. Basically everything apple has minus the iMacs, and many more models of each. They could also offer customer support for android and chrome which is what I really want to see.

[Wojethebest]

Umm other than their chrome book what do they actually make themselves I thought that their phones were made by other company's

So a they are just going to be selling their items that are very few not enough for a store in my opinion.

Or b they are going to sell products with android or crome books and it will be just another computer shop.

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Gr8 !! Does that store have Google fiber and free WiFi ???..

I really hope that it does ...

If it does ... Then I'm off to London with my 5 TB storage and a couple of smartphones and laptops

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Umm other than their chrome book what do they actually make themselves I thought that their phones were made by other company's

So a they are just going to be selling their items that are very few not enough for a store in my opinion.

Or b they are going to sell products with android or crome books and it will be just another computer shop.

They sell products like nexus phones and tabs and other products that has anything to do with Google even some thing remotely related to Google ...

[Syntaxvgm]

And not a single microSD card anywhere in that building

[FakezZ]

 

Good, hope it spreads to more countries as well. Chromebooks and the Nexus line still seem to be a niche here

 

The have, it's called the play store.

 

It's not yet international though

[Trik'Stari]

And not a single microSD card anywhere in that building

Wait, is that a thing or are you making an apple store joke? Never bought any google product, not sure if they use MicroSD or not.

[Syntaxvgm]

Wait, is that a thing or are you making an apple store joke? Never bought any google product, not sure if they use MicroSD or not.

Google are a bunch of anti-removable storage nazis. None and I mean none of their devices have one. They for some reason believe that all you need is the cloud and we all live in this unlimited bandwidth world. My moto x sorely lacks storage. 

[Trik'Stari]

Google are a bunch of anti-removable storage nazis. None and I mean none of their devices have one. They for some reason believe that all you need is the cloud and we all live in this unlimited bandwidth world. My moto x sorely lacks storage. 

Oh so they're just as bad as apple when it comes to expandable storage

[AlexGoesHigh]

Google are a bunch of anti-removable storage nazis. None and I mean none of their devices have one. They for some reason believe that all you need is the cloud and we all live in this unlimited bandwidth world. My moto x sorely lacks storage. 

they have at least one device with a sd slot, the chromebook pixel, both the old and new

[razor767]

Might check it out at some point. 

[Thony]

Why in UK ?! UK is known for its obsession for Apple products...