The report comes following rumors that emerged in 2013 that Google was planning to launch retail stores of its own.
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Turns out the company has scrapped plans to open a store, despite spending around $6 million on renovating the site.
According to new reports, Google has apparently ditched their plans for their first ever retail store.
Speculation ran rampant when word leaked out that Google had leased a 5,442 square foot space in SoHo last year and would be paying $2.25 million each year for it, according to a Crain’s New York Business report. All of this at the whopping cost of $6 million. The ground floor got a few modifications so that the rear area offers a special, ritualistic-like atmosphere. It has already opened a kiosk within an electronics store in London.
And yet! It appears that the building is now being subleased, which would seem to indicate that Google is no longer interested in opening a store there. The glass skylights and large windows make a statement about transparency and could be read as a metaphor for data flow. The company exposed the brick walls, columns, and steel beams, as well, and eliminated a concrete step that led into the building.
The access from the street received small modifications so that clients find the entrance more inviting.
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At this point, it’s unclear if Google still has any interest in opening retail stores, but for the time being, it looks as if those plans have been shut down. As far as marketing strategy goes, big names in the tech industry are moving closer to the old-fashioned street commerce. Even Amazon has gone back to its roots to open an actual bookstore in its hometown of Seattle.
