Google has opened its first physical shop. The ‘Chromezone’ is a shop within a branch of Currys and PC World on London’s Tottenham Court Road, and is being used by Google to trial a new way of selling its own chromebook laptops.
The new laptops run Google’s own operating system and rely heavily on an internet connection for functionality. Previously, they were only available online but the search giant now believes consumers will benefit from being shown the in real life.
The launch was low key compared to Apple’s massively hyped opening of its first London shop in 2004, but Google claimed that it will experiment with the format and could open more retail outlets in the future.
"Specially trained Chromebook experts will be on hand to offer guidance and advice to shoppers", the company said in a statement.
The Chrome Zone has been daubed with a primary Google-style brush, and will look to explain the cloud OS notebooks to the general public.
The only notebook on offer will, of course, be the Samsung Chromebook, with Acer's version yet to launch in this country, despite being badged as 'coming soon' since the launch in June.
Great deal of thought
"We've put a great deal of thought into the design of this Chrome Zone," said Arvind Desikan, head of consumer marketing for Google in the UK and Ireland.
"Chromebooks are the perfect notebook computers for people who live on the web, and offer a faster, safer and more secure online experience, without all the time-consuming and confusing maintenance required by typical computers."
Mark Slater, category director at Dixons Retail, said: "Initial customer response to the launch of Samsung's Chromebook has been excellent and we are expecting a lot of customer interest and excitement now it is in-store.
"It's the most revolutionary laptop on the market and as the leading electrical retailer in the UK we are thrilled that our flagship store has UK exclusivity to showcase this new technology to our customers.
"We have dedicated staff who have been specifically trained in using the Chromebook to demonstrate all its unique benefits and features to customers."
