Turnout Light at Google's Inaugural Store Opening

Google’s first retail store, a LEED Platinum-certified, 5,000-square-foot space in the ground floor of its New York headquarters building, opened in low-key fashion Thursday, with a couple dozen visitors waiting when doors opened at 10:02 a.m. Ten minutes before the open, staffers rolled out an oversized red Google Maps pin to mark the spot, located the next block up and across the street from Apple’s West 14th Street store.

Google seemed to want to keep the grand opening understated for those outside of its fan base. Our Wednesday Google search for store hours brought up only the opening date, and when we asked Google Assistant on a Google Home speaker for the opening time, she didn’t have the information. She did give the 10 a.m. opening time when asked on Thursday.

While waiting for doors to open, Google enthusiast Mukesh Shah, 69, told us he left his home in New Jersey at about 7:45 a.m. to make the opening, after being notified about it by a friend who had seen a Made by Google tweet. When we observed the proximity to the Apple store down the street, Shah said, “I never use Apple products.” He then showed us a screen from Google Maps saying his 7,483 photos had 99.7 million views, accrued over four years. Shah wasn’t sure if he would buy anything but heard the first thousand visitors to the store would get a gift. Overhearing the conversation, Ron Brayer, who ventured over from the East Village, said of the reported gift, if it’s a thousand, “it has to be something small.” Brayer had brought along an unopened Pixel 3a phone, hoping he could trade it in for a product.

We found Brayer in the store later, after he had been told he could trade in the 3a only for another phone, or recycle it. While we were waiting in line for a Pixel “sandbox,” where we could have photos taken by a Pixel phone, Brayer looked up the trade-in value of the 3a toward a new Pixel: $12.50-$25. That wouldn’t cover the Google T-shirt he had just bought for $30, he noted, but he did get the giveaway -- a Google tote bag with the store location printed on it -- priced at $25.

The Google Store has vignettes showing Google and Nest products as they would appear in a kids’ space and living room. A non-branded, purpose-built TV, was used to demonstrate Google TV via a Chromecast stick. We didn’t see Android TVs from Hisense, Sony or TCL. Similar to the Apple store down the street, the Google Store has tables with stations where visitors can try out smartphones, Pixelbooks and Fitbit trackers. Google Pixel Buds were on display at the stations but not available for demo for hygiene reasons. Other stations in the store have spaces for streaming Stadia games and an area showing how different Nest products work together. An “Imagination Space,” partially enclosed with a 17-foot glass structure, featured Google Translate technology, translating what visitors said into 24 languages.

Google products are available for purchase, with discounts ranging $15-$65 for bundle buys. A smart light starter pack was $58.99, a savings of $15; a home entertainment bundle with Chromecast, Nest Hub Max and a Nest router, was $482.99, a $65 savings. Other merchandise for sale included Google-branded basketballs ($40), sock sets ($35), baseball cap ($20), pencils ($8) and rope dog toys ($15), along with phone cases, mophie chargers and other accessories. Google staffers are required to wear masks. The unbranded white masks had the text “I’m smiling under here.” Masks are optional for visitors. We observed about half the visitors were wearing them.