Google Opens Retail Store in London

Technology giant Google has opened its first retail store. The Tottenham Court Road, London store, opened inside an existing electronics shop run by Currys PC World, sells Android products like phones, tablets and laptops. The store — effectively a shop-in-shop – will be permanent and two others are planned to open in Currys PC World stores. The stores are being run by Currys and its corporate parent, Dixons Carphone, and not Google.

In fact, according Dixons CEO Sebastian James, Google hasn’t even officially leased the space from Curry PC World, it’s merely branded by Google. “It’s billboarding,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to showcasing and selling Google-powered devices, the store features a wall-sized Google Maps and Google Earth installation and a “doodle” wall that lets customers draw on a giant screen with a virtual spray paint can.

“The pace of innovation of the devices we all use is incredible, yet the way we buy them has remained the same for years,” Google’s U.K. marketing director James Elias said in a statement. “With the Google Shop, we want to offer people a place where they can play, experiment and learn about all of what Google has to offer.”

This isn’t the first time Google and Currys have worked together. Google opened a “Chromezone” section in this Currys shop back in 2011, a concept that was later rolled out in Currys stores across the U.K.

Google reported revenue of $66 billion in 2014, up 19% on the previous year.