Google abandons plan to open its first retail store in New York City

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 3 Nov 2015

Google-Android-007

Among the top 3 tech giants — Apple, Microsoft, and Google –the big G is the only one to not have a flagship retail store in New York City. The company had plans to open its first retail store in the city this year, but if a new report from Crain’s New York is to be believed, that plan has now been abandoned.

The decision comes even after Google has already spent upwards of $6 million on renovating the 131 Greene St. location, where it planned to open its first store in the city.

Google had planned to sell its various hardware products like Chromebooks and smartphones running Android made by different Android OEMs in the retail store. With the plan being abandoned now, the company is now trying to sublease the 5,400+ sq. ft of space for an annual rent of nearly $2.25 million.

Microsoft opened its first flagship retail store in New York City just last month. The store comprises for five storeys, and showcases various laptops from different OEMs, Lumia smartphones and other hardware products from the Redmond based company. The store is located just near Apple’s iconic store in New York that features a glass cube like design.

Reports about Google opening its first retail store have been popping up on the Internet every few months, but if the company’s decision to not open a store after spending more than $6 million on renovation is anything to go by, it looks like it has no real interest in opening them anytime soon.

[Via Crain’s New York]