Say hello to the first-ever Google Store in NYC

Today is the big day! Google has just opened the doors to its first-ever retail location in the midtown neighborhood of Chelsea right in the heart of Manhattan. Technically, this isn’t Google’s first run at a physical location but past endeavors were made up of temporary “pop-up” stores that generally focused on specific hardware launches and holiday shopping. Then there were the somewhat bizarre pop-up donut shops of 2017 that featured the then-new Google Home Mini.

The all-new Google Store in NYC, however, is the company’s first attempt at a permanent retail location. This morning, Google opened the doors to the public at 10:00 am and you can take a stroll down to Chelsea to see what the store has to offer. If you don’t happen to be in the Manhattan area, Google dropped a little preview on The Keyword to give us all a closer look at the new space and it looks amazing. Google VP of Hardware Design, Ivy Ross led the project as creative director. Check out the new space.

https://youtu.be/m-klCvtE_eE

Google is emphasizing its commitment to sustainability with the new retail location. The carpet is made from recycled material and the veneer walls were crafted with responsibly sourced wood. Google stated that, from day one, the company considered every single aspect of the store’s material and design from the perspective of sustainability and those efforts have earned the retail space a very notable recognition.

We’re honored to have worked with the U.S. Green Building Council in this process, and we now can share that the Google Store Chelsea is one of fewer than 215 retail spaces in the world to have achieved a LEED Platinum rating — the highest certification possible within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system.

The Keyword

The new location is so much more than a simple retail space, however, As Fast Company’s Elizabeth Segran describes it, “the space ends up feeling more like an interactive museum or an exploratorium than a retail store.” That’s because Google designed every space in the store to be an interactive experience to highlight not only Google hardware but also software platforms like the Google Assistant and Google Search. Shoppers can enter a room filled with interactive displays that will translate, in real-time, whatever you say into 24 different languages. There’s even a Stadia room – or sandbox as Google likes to call it – where you can sit back and enjoy a little cloud gaming.

All the interactive stuff is really cool but make no mistake, this is an actual retail store and Google stated that a team of experts is always on hand to assist with buying choices as well as get technical support or repairs for Google products. The doors opened at 10:00 a.m. this morning and the all-new Google Store will be open to the public Monday-Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm and Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. The new store has our hopes up that Google will reconvene in NYC with an in-person hardware event this fall and you can bet that we will have to pop into the new store and see it for ourselves. Stay tuned for more on that. If you’re in the Manhattan area and you happen to check out the new space, drop a comment below and let us know what you think.