There have been a lot of pop-ups over the years, but Google opens its first store in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC tomorrow. The brick-and-mortar model looks for companies affiliated with counterparts like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and even Amazon, each with a retail presence in Manhattan, with a few spots close to Google’s new excavations. The new location, which opens at 10 a.m. local time tomorrow morning, fills 5,000 square feet of sales space for Google’s large, expensive West Side real estate investment.
The retail location previously occupied a post office and Starbucks, which vacated the premises after the lease expired under their new corporate landlord. The layout of the store is experimentally designed, highlighting selected third-party partners as well as the company’s growing hardware portfolio. Basically it’s a way for the company to get new additions in front of tourists and locals for pixel phones, home offerings, stadia, wires and hardware portfolios, fitted devices.
VP Jason Rosanthal said in a press preview week, “We’ve really used pop-ups over the last several years to better understand what customers expect from what we can deliver individually at Google.” We’ve learned from our 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 pop-ups, and we’ve really learned what we’re opening at Chelsea. [6].” The premise was virtual due to epidemic restrictions. And after it opens to the public this week, the city will maintain standard safety alerts as it tackles the tail end of the epidemic.
And while COVID-19 almost certainly slows down the planned launch, Google has promised that everything will be fully operational from tomorrow. This followed a few weeks of piloting, where 50 or more employees of the store were put through their pace, when the company finished the experience. Earlier, Google created a full-size store mockup in a hangar space in Mountain View to test ideas. The company fills the store with “sandboxes” as well as lining product screens and dioramas in 1-foot window – effectively a landscape like a living room, no different from what you’d see in a large furniture store – but better illuminated.
The stadia has a gaming area for playing and a soundproof spot for testing various home / nest products. Customers like Apple’s Store will be able to repair broken devices like the Pixel. The company says it is increasing the number of devices that can be fixed on site, on the other hand it should also be able to fix problems like some broken screens on the same day.
