World's First Google Store Opens In London

M@
By M@ Last edited 149 months ago
World's First Google Store Opens In London

Google has made its first foray into high-street retail with the opening of a shop on Tottenham Court Road. The outlet – an enclave within the local PC World store – is both tiny and temporary, and will close after Christmas.

The so-called Chrome Zone will allow the company to show off its full range of hardware, from its Chromebook laptop right through to...

....

...

...no, that is all.

Clearly, this is no Apple Store killer. Not yet. The London opening is more of an experimental dip into physical retail for Google, a beta release, if you will, of things to come. The company recently bought Motorola, giving it plenty of potential real things to sell down the road.

This is Google's second London connection in a week, following their announcement of a new tech incubator near the Old Street roundabout. One of the peculiar side effects of all this London love is a spate of cringey allusions from US pundits. cnet opens its report with two paragraphs of Churchillian twaddle, while Techi thinks Google are 'singing God Save The Queen'. Even Gizmodo hopes Google has 'remembered to replace the $ key with a £ key'.

Last Updated 03 October 2011