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Google Opens Real-World 'Google Shops' in Canada (digitaltrends.com)

Streetlight writes: Google is moving towards a physical presence in Best Buy stores...mimicking what Samsung has done. Hopefully the "stores" are staffed with competent professionals that know what they're selling and maybe provide some help to those who have purchased Google's hardware and software.
Google "is launching a store-within-a-store debuting in North America at select Best Buy locations in Canada," reports TechCrunch, adding that recently "Google also revealed that it would be creating a pop-up Experience Store for users to check out its new wares in New York City."

43 comments

  1. "Professionals" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Competent and Best Buy really don't belong in the same paragraph, let alone sentence.

    1. Re:"Professionals" by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      No shit. The author's point is that hopefully these people are not just standard Blue Shirts, and more under Google's control -- with training related to the specific products others wouldn't have.

      I set foot in BB so rarely I don't know how the Samsung store is.

    2. Re:"Professionals" by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Nah, if you need help they're programmed to tell you to just f*cking google it. Or RTFM.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    3. Re:"Professionals" by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      I'm getting a humorous mental image of the staff of the Google Store using Google Search "consult with someone above them" on the question.

  2. Disclaimer: May terminate account arbitrarily by bigbang137 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Every Google product should come with a blackbox warning: your account with all its data may be terminated arbitrarily, basically whenever a Google executive throws a tantrum. Meanwhile, the company continues to evade taxes.

    1. Re:Disclaimer: May terminate account arbitrarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      whenever a Google executive throws a tantrum.

      His name is Larry.

    2. Re:Disclaimer: May terminate account arbitrarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Or whenever you try to break their terms of service to put money in your own pocket.

    3. Re:Disclaimer: May terminate account arbitrarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, right. It absolutely make sense that if someone resold a Google phone to make some profit, he should lose access to his mails and photos.

      What's next? Would Google ban my account if I used the phone to view porn, access overseas gambling sites, trade in Bitcoins, or worst, post messages supporting Trump on Facebook?

  3. Ooooh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe they will have top ranking for my fake news articles for sale?

  4. You meant to say Samsung Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Best Buy is Samsung Store.

  5. Google Stores, or Alphabet Stores by unixisc · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I've sometimes wondered why there ain't any Google/Alphabet Stores, the same way that there are Apple Stores or Microsoft Stores in malls. Places where I could take any generic Android phone/tablet, pay them something in return for them to upgrade it to the latest version of Android possible for that device (taking into consideration things like the amount of RAM, storage). I'm talking here about stuff that I can't upgrade via either settings or play store, and very few people are expert enough to do Cyanogen mod

    If one says 'budget', well, they have a better chance of making money here than they have in making it w/ Google Fiber. What's more, result of such an exercise, they'll know how much of the legacy Android market could be upgraded to something relatively recent, and how much is just lost to Honeycomb, Icecream Sandwich and Jellybean. And it could be a bit like Microsoft Stores - just like Microsoft Stores don't just sell Surfaces and Lumias, but also Dells, Acers, HPs, et al, similarly a Google Store could sell Pixels, Galaxies, Sonys, LGs, OnePlus, Xiaomis and so on. In fact, very little of their inventory needs to be their own, but they could make a lot of 'service' money by upgrading old stuff to something that is decently usable

  6. the title is wrong by fubarrr · · Score: 2

    it should be: google copies apple, trying to woo mouthbreather with bling bling storefronts

    1. Re:the title is wrong by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      They don't seem to work very well here in Canada. I'm guessing that within a year you'll see them trying to work out agreements with the established big box stores(Walmart, Canadian Tire, Giant Tiger, Sports Check(or whatever their new name is), Dollar *something* we have two national dollar type stores that sell everything from cheap crap to canned food at heavy discounts), and dumping their storefronts. Apple tried lots of fancy storefronts, didn't work. Now you'll only find their "apple" stuff in most cases inside big box stores like walmart. Even those are teetering on the face of failure, since people aren't really buying.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    2. Re:the title is wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever rising tax burdens are shrinking the middle class out of the market in Canada, and it is showing at retailers. The latest government change added another $1500 in taxes for my below average income family, without a corresponding raise at work, all to increase tax breaks to high income childless families with dual incomes. Guess what, that means I will buy even less than I did last year. This combined with the huge hit our economy took with our dollar tanking on business not trusting our new government has caused even more burden as prices skyrocketed on basic necessities (which finally fell a little this month, likely simply due to nobody buying).

      This is likely to get a lot worse since Canada bet on the wrong horse (leftist policies) when our major trading partners are going all in on right wing policies (Brexit, Trump). Hold onto your horses, the new few years are going to be a wild ride.

    3. Re:the title is wrong by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      This is likely to get a lot worse since Canada bet on the wrong horse (leftist policies) when our major trading partners are going all in on right wing policies (Brexit, Trump). Hold onto your horses, the new few years are going to be a wild ride.

      Hey, just think you can be in Ontario. Which has seen electricity prices go through the roof. And both the provincial and federal governments want to introduce a "carbon tax" which will turn around and with current rough estimates raise the price of goods by around 20% Yeah, that's really going to help people out. Canada is in the same position it was in the late 1970s, and I honestly expect Trudeau Jr, to follow in the steps of his father and institute wage and price controls in a couple of years as all of this shit hits the fan.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  7. Don't try to resell anything purchased there! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They BAN you!

  8. Misuse of money by states by bigbang137 · · Score: 1

    Is it so bad to evade taxes that the state will use to fund its insane pensions and the hideous prison-judge-cop political complex especially for victimless crimes? Please let me know when the state begins to use money more wisely, and I'll be happy to pay more.

  9. Can I buy maps? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    Maps are getting hard to find. Also, can I get my photos printed?

  10. Re:Google Stores, or Alphabet Stores by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    they have a better chance of making money here than they have in making it w/ Google Fiber.

    I don't think so. Profits are made by selling commodity products and services to millions of people, not by selling labor intensive services on a one-off basis using highly skilled workers that are making $50+/hr. For what you are describing, you would need to be willing to pay more than the cost of a new phone.

  11. Probably the WORST place in Canada to test market by mykepredko · · Score: 1

    Seriously. Best Buy has never been great technically, but they've really gone down hill over the past couple of years in terms of having a good product selection and competent sales staff. That's not to say they don't have sales in which the products they sell are cheap compared to the competition and if you know what you're buying and have price-shopped you can get a deal, but don't expect any kind of sales help or guidance - make sure you know what you're getting and when you compare to other retailers;make sure it's the same SKU with all the same access, features and accessories.

    I guess they have the number of stores to validate this type of market entry but if I would be very, very surprised to see anything but a hard push on the Google (based?) products out on the displays in the Best Buy stores and ignorance about any competing products.

  12. Screw Google & Left wing plantation politician by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like all limousine liberals, they just want to divide the country into slave owners and slaves. Well, I'm neither and proud of it.

  13. Maker's reps in the stores are a bad idea by shanen · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Interesting in that I just had a recent experience along these lines. Around here most of the electronics shops are overrun with maker's reps, and it's a really bad idea. This example might be illustrative.

    The maker was ASUS and the product was a dual-SIM Zenfone Go. Turned out to be useless for my specialized application, though I'm probably going to keep it as a backup for regular use. The ASUS reps were completely clueless about the problems, though it turned out the Huawei and Freetel reps knew exactly what was wrong.

    My initial intention had been to buy a Huawei or Freetel, but that's where maker's reps in the stores distort things. Of course they are trying to latch onto the floating customers and direct (or misdirect) them to buying their employer's products.

    My confusion is why the stores think they are saving money when they are actually destroying their own business. The reason you go to a multi-brand electronics store is to compare the various brands, hopefully with the support of a salesperson who knows all the brands and the differences between them. If you want to be bamboozled by a particular maker, you'd just go to the website and skip the store.

    As for the google, I think their main business model these days is do-it-yourself brainwashing. They call it personalization, but what it really means is showing you what you want to see, including evidence of what you want to believe, no matter how misguided. Things that might offend you and drive you away from their ads are to be avoided at all costs, even at the cost of Trump's so-called victory.

    Time for investment advice: You should buy the makers of anti-anxiety drugs and wife-beater t-shirts. For-profit prisons look hot, too. Plastics, smastics. You should have bought your google years ago. Invest in big poverty NOW.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    1. Re:Maker's reps in the stores are a bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think their main business model these days is do-it-yourself brainwashing.

      Trump's so-called victory

      Yeah, you sound like someone we should all listen to, since you're obviously a batshit insane conspiracy theorist.

  14. Re:Google Stores, or Alphabet Stores by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

    The vast number of android phones sold were from someone other than google, so there's no incentive. Same as the manufacturers have no incentive to make a removable battery. That would hurt their sales. Ditto for software upgrades. Ditto for making it easy for you to get root.

    Microsoft and Apple can sell stuff in their own stores because they make money on the OS. Google gives it away. Again, no money there.

    And their premise is stupidly wrong

    A retail presence is something that’s been key to building a premium mobile device customer base that’s sizable and loyal,

    Hint - android itself is not seen as a "premium OS" and never will be. Most people's loyalty is based on cheaper, not the google brand As sizable, you managed to make it to a 90% market share without stores, so there's not much headroom for expansion anyway.

    Sounds like a brain fart from someone who had to either find a new project or be out of a job, and everyone around them saluted when it was ru up the flag pole because they're in the same boat.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  15. What Happened To "Do No Evil"? by HannethCom · · Score: 2

    Seriously, Best Buy treats their customers like criminals, and their employees worse. In Canada they bought out FutureShop. A few years later they decided to close most FutureShop stores and have a select few stores change to Best Buy. They let the managers know that a package of signs was going to be delivered after hours when everyone else was gone. The managers learned about the their store closing when they opened the package. The employees found out from the media, or the signs when they tried coming to work the next day. As for the stores that were changing to Best Buy, those employees could apply for jobs at the new store.

    --
    Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
    1. Re:What Happened To "Do No Evil"? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      I'm not justifying what they did but the majority of the stores that were closed were right beside a Best Buy store that was built when they moved up into Canada. After the buyout I think the idea was to try and make it look like an electronics area sort of how multiple car dealers will clump together. It still doesn't excuse the terrible treatment towards the staff.

  16. How does that work? by backslashdot · · Score: 1

    You go up to them and ask for a pair of shoes. They go in the back and bring out a bunch of different shoe polish cans, shoeboxes, shoelaces. Then they ask you "Or did you mean shovels?".

  17. Re:Google Stores, or Alphabet Stores by blindseer · · Score: 1

    Microsoft and Apple can sell stuff in their own stores because they make money on the OS. Google gives it away. Again, no money there.

    Google is not selling an OS, that is true. What they are selling is access to eyeballs to advertisers.

    There is a money incentive in selling Android products, they create a larger market for their advertising space.

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
  18. Re:Google Stores, or Alphabet Stores by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

    And they already have plenty of others selling stuff for them. Why bother with unnecessary overhead AND piss off your partners?

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  19. WTF ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... does Google sell?

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    1. Re:WTF ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why, top search ranking for your targeted fake news of course!

    2. Re:WTF ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... does Google sell?

      You.

    3. Re:WTF ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ads ... and fluff like Android that keeps selling ads.

    4. Re:WTF ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF ... does Google sell?

      Assuming you weren't being sarcastic:
      https://store.google.com/

  20. Arctic stil to be 3rd world to Google? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this get us any closer to Google not treating the arctic like the third world?

    A few of us tried buying Nexus mobiles from them a couple of years ago. Google accepted the orders and promptly cancelled them without bothering to notify us. Needless to say, there was much grinding of teeth and cursing of Google.

  21. Real World Google by Gumbercules!! · · Score: 1

    I hope it is exactly like this:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuOBzWF0Aws

    (College Humor: If Google was a Guy)

  22. Look at The Diversity! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's like it reflects the actual world or something....

  23. Re:Google Stores, or Alphabet Stores by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Microsoft and Apple can sell stuff in their own stores because they make money on the OS. Google gives it away. Again, no money there.

    Google is not selling an OS, that is true. What they are selling is access to eyeballs to advertisers.

    Exactly, you, the one using the Android phone, is the product. The advertisers are Google's customers. Who would pay more money to service a product when the customer have no desire for such servicing?

    There is a money incentive in selling Android products, they create a larger market for their advertising space.

    Yes, but there is no money incentive to upgrade the Android product once it is sold.

  24. Re:Probably the WORST place in Canada to test mark by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Seriously. Best Buy has never been great technically, but they've really gone down hill over the past couple of years in terms of having a good product selection and competent sales staff.

    Well, you have to admit that online sales have basically killed them. However, the reason they still are around is because they've reinvented themselves - you entering the store is NOT the primary customer. The stuff on display in the store is the customer.

    When you see DVDs and such for sale, it's because the distributors paid to be there. They paid for the $10 bargain bins. They paid for shelf space. Yes, they pay for shelf space - Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo paid for their own aisles in Best Buy, they paid for the layouts, the demo displays, etc. (Yes, it was hilarious when for years the "PS VIta" section was empty, but Sony paid for it, so Best Buy was contractually obliged to keep it ... empty)

    Best Buy is a marketplace where manufacturers all gathered to offer their wares for sale. That's also why selection is down - Best Buy only sells what manufacturers have paid for

    Google owning a "store" inside Best Buy isn't unusual - Apple has done it for years, and until recently, Samsung did too. (It was funny, since the Samsung store took up a huge chunk of the Best Buy I visited all the time, and was always empty. Someone maintains it - they always had the latest product, but there was no one there. Previously, it was a Future Shop and Samsung paid to have a Best Buy employee be the Samsung specialist, but that guy didn't sign on when Best Buy got rid of all the Future Shop stores, and I guess no one signed on or Samsung refused to pay for a specialist). It's funny because right after Remembrance day, the Samsung displays came down and now it's all appliances. I'm guessing the Samsung contract expired/

  25. Re:Probably the WORST place in Canada to test mark by mykepredko · · Score: 1

    Thank you for your comment - interesting perspective on Best Buy that I will have to keep in mind when somebody suggests I look at a product there.

  26. very good by ahmedelwahsh02 · · Score: 1

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    http://www.forex-ax.com/
  27. Re:Probably the WORST place in Canada to test mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Huh, I learned something today. That makes so much sense, I've always wondered why all these huge tech companies displayed their wares in Best Buy.