Google Watchers Expect Company-Branded Stores This Year 86
9to5Google cites "an extremely reliable source" in reporting that "Google is in the process of building stand-alone retail stores in the U.S. and hopes to have the first flagship Google Stores open for the holidays in major metropolitan areas. The mission of the stores is to get new Google Nexus, Chrome, and especially upcoming products into the hands of prospective customers. Google feels right now that many potential customers need to get hands-on experience with its products before they are willing to purchase. Google competitors Apple and Microsoft both have retail outlets where customers can try before they buy."
Re: Wonder where they got that idea. (Score:2, Interesting)
The local Gateway store was this dingy place that actually had their computers set up on card tables. It's like they were planning for failure. You also couldn't buy anything there, just sit down at a computer and order it online.
If anything, I would say Sony did it first and Apple copied the "Sony Experience" or whatever the fuck it was called.