Google Opens First Retail Outlet In London

theodp writes "Google is following in the footsteps of Apple and Microsoft. The London Evening Standard reports that the world's first 'Google Store' has opened in a PC World on London's gadget street, Tottenham Court Road. Officially known as 'the Chromezone,' the 285sq. ft. pop-up 'shop within a shop,' which only sells Google's Chromebook laptop and a few accessories such as headphones, will run for three months up to Christmas. But if the low-key experiment is successful, Google could follow Apple in opening permanent stores around the world. 'It is our first foray into physical retail,' said Google's Arvind Desikan. 'This is a new channel for us and it's still very, very early days. It's something Google is going to play with and see where it leads.'"

Comments

Apple had to open their own stores.

[jcr]

When Apple decided to build their own retail operation, they had a problem to solve. Existing retailers were doing a very poor job of presenting their products. I remember a time where if you saw a Mac at all at a store that sold PCs, it was usually missing a few keys from the keyboard, and if it was powered up, it was flashing the "sad mac" icon. There were a handful of Mac-only resellers who did a better job of it, but there certainly weren't enough of them. Retail was crucial to Apple's survival.

For an outfit like Google or Microsoft, retail is just something they think they should do because Apple did it.

-jcr

Prices do not compare!

[jwijnands]

Prices don't translate that easily. A price in American dollars often means the same in euros and only slightly less in pounds. Something our North American /, crowd seems to forget.