Google’s First Retail Shop To Open Thursday

Google’s first brick-and-mortar store will open Thursday, June 17, at 10 a.m., 9to5Google reported Monday (June 14).

The store will offer the “full range” of Made by Google hardware and services. Users will be able to try out products, get installation help and resolve technical issues. They will also be able to attend how-to workshops offered throughout the year.

The store is located at 15th and 19th streets in New York City’s Chelsea District. The tech giant said about expansion that it will “continue to explore and experiment with the possibilities of a physical retail space and build upon the experience,” 9to5Google reported.

Physical retail is hard to do well, PYMNTS reported last month when the shop was first announced, and Google is late to the game.

“But if Google can find a way to make its physical retail journey its own — and can create a consumer journey that offers an inventive twist on the physical experience that delivers more than what the consumer can get online,” PYMNTS wrote. “The world’s largest search platform might just have a toehold that could be a launching point for many of their digital services.”

The Google store will sell the company’s own products, but the tech giant in general has dived into the world of omnichannel commerce. Notably, the company recently a major expansion of its open commerce ecosystem by allowing retailers on WooCommerce, GoDaddy and Square to integrate with Google to make digital commerce more accessible.

“We want to bring all the different buying options together for consumers,” Google Vice President and General Manager Matt Madrigal told PYMNTS recently. “Because as we’ve seen with the growth of omnichannel retail and experiences, consumers expect not just a lot more in product choices, but really a change in how they shop.”

“No one wants to live in a world where there’s just one place to shop,” he said.