Somewhere in the middle of June, Google finally open its door to its first retail store. It is located underneath its offices in the Chelsea neighbourhood in New York City.
The store will feature mostly Google’s own hardware products including Pixel phones, Nest smart home gadgets, Fitbits, and assorted other devices, as well as a selection of third-party accessories and Google-branded swag like hats or T-shirts.
According to The Verge, Google has called it as its first store, but in a call with press declined to say when, where, or even whether other stores could open. With the opening of this, however, it has paved way for Google to get into physical stores.
The Google Store is designed more like a show room rather than a typical retail space intended to move lots of product. There are stools and chairs scattered throughout the main space as well as rooms that Google calls “sandboxes” with product-specific experiences. In one room, customers will go through a little skit of using a Nest hub to answer the door for a delivery person, complete with haptics in the couch to simulate a knock on the door. The room for Pixel phones will showcase their low-light photography feature.
The store is filled with lots of lights and also a lot of warm wood tones. Google stated that it has worked local artist to design the cork and wood furniture, added with the fact that it earned a platinum rating from Leeds for its environmental design. Most of the furniture and flooring are made from recycled materials.
Along the outside of the store are diorama boxes featuring various Google products. There’s a Stadia room for gaming, another room to showcase Google’s living room products, and so on. Google also built a circular glass booth that it will fill with exhibits showing off its technologies — starting with Google Translate.
Google says that it will offer on-site repair for Pixel phones and product support for all of its hardware devices. It’ll offer some software support as well — though only for its consumer products, not for enterprise users.