The Verge reports that Google has its eye on a location in Chicago’s Fulton Market for its first permanent retail store.
The two-story space, the story says, “would total 14,000 square feet across several interconnected brick buildings, according to The Chicago Tribune. This planned store would be several blocks south of the company’s Midwest HQ.”
The story notes that “this isn’t Google’s first attempt at a brick-and-mortar store, which would be a prime locale to show off its ever-growing selection of hardware products. But until now, Google’s been relegated to the occasional pop-up and ‘stores within stores’ in the US and UK, sectioning off space to show demos of Chromebooks, smart speakers, and phones … Previously, it spent millions renovating a planned 5,000-square-foot retail space in New York’s swanky SoHo district before ultimately abandoning these plans and leasing the space out instead.”
The two-story space, the story says, “would total 14,000 square feet across several interconnected brick buildings, according to The Chicago Tribune. This planned store would be several blocks south of the company’s Midwest HQ.”
The story notes that “this isn’t Google’s first attempt at a brick-and-mortar store, which would be a prime locale to show off its ever-growing selection of hardware products. But until now, Google’s been relegated to the occasional pop-up and ‘stores within stores’ in the US and UK, sectioning off space to show demos of Chromebooks, smart speakers, and phones … Previously, it spent millions renovating a planned 5,000-square-foot retail space in New York’s swanky SoHo district before ultimately abandoning these plans and leasing the space out instead.”
- KC's View:
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Be interesting to see if Google doesn’t just use the store to sell its own hardware, but also figures out a way to turn into a component from which it can market its relationships with companies doing business via its platform. I suspect they won’t make the Microsoft mistake, and create something that seems like a Grade B Apple Store; rather, it’ll create something that serves as a clear-cut alternative to the kinds of bricks-and-mortar stores being opened by Amazon.
