Google fears to thread the New York retail waters occupied by Microsoft and Apple, as business site Crain's reports the search giant gave up on its first US flagship store.
The space is located in Greene Street, SoHo, a popular shopping district with upscale tenants including Dior, Tiffany, Louis Vitton and Sonos. The 5442-square-foot building reportedly received $6 million in restoration and renovation from Google-- with works including a sunken portion of ground floor in the rear complete with soaring ceilings and glass skylights and a facade restored to its former glory.
"This is going to be a space for a brand at the top of their field," a real estate broker involved with the building tells Crain's. "It's an extraordinary buildout-- architecturally there really is nothing else like it in SoHo," he added.
Now Google is said to be looking to sublease the location, and wants $2.25 million in annual rent.
Why would Google give up on the retail dream? The company has already dabbles in brick-and-mortar retail, running pop-up "Chromezone" shops inside London PC World branches. In 2013 was also said to be working on an extravagant floating showroom in Portland Harbor, a plan it eventually gave up on in 2014. Maybe the search giant realised online retail and traditional brick-and-mortar resellers are enough in order to sell its device selection?
Go Google Abandons Plan to Open Retail Store in NYC (Crain's)
