Google takes on Apple with first retail store opening in NYC
Yahoo Finance's technology editor Dan Howley takes a look at Google's first-ever physical retail store located in Manhattan and what that means for competitor Apple.
Video transcript
DAN HOWLEY: Google has opened its first ever physical store and it's right here in Manhattan. It also happens to be about a block away from the Apple Store. With respect to Google, that does make sense. This is, of course, their corporate headquarters, as you can see up there. But it does invite comparisons between the two. And that's what I'm here to do.
The Google Store is meant to be a destination for Google fans to check out the company's latest hardware offerings. We're talking everything from pixel phones and Fitbits to Chromecasts and Nest cameras. There are rooms to test out things like the Chromecast and Google's Stadia platform and an event space is designed for how-to workshops. If that all looks a bit familiar, it's because, well, there's a similar experience down the block.
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So obviously Google is cribbing some of Apple's notes. We have the same kind of wood aesthetic throughout. Google is a little bit more colorful on the inside. Definitely smaller, but Apple, well, they also have a lot more people inside.
The Google Store also has a spotlight on the sustainability built into each one of its products. The colorful and modern layout aims to give more of a vibrant feel and customers have seemed to take note.
JORDAN GLABINGER: Pretty cool store. Feels like the Apple Store, right, sleek, sexy, new, exciting.
DAN HOWLEY: It's difficult to tell if the Google Store is something the company wants to turn into a nationwide retail spot or an experiment designed to give tourists in the area a taste of what Google has to offer on the hardware front. We'll just have to wait to see to find out.
For Yahoo Finance, I'm Dan Howley.
