Google to open stores in major metro areas to sell Nexus devices and more

We know that many people are scared of buying a smartphone or tablet online because you can't get an idea of what the device feels like in your hands. You also do not get an idea of how responsive a certain device is. And that is why Google is rumored to be opening a number of stores in major metropolitan areas of the United States. While selling Nexus smartphones and tablets online has been successful for Google, imagine if the company was able to attract those buyers who want to test out a device before buying it. The stores are expected to be open for the holidays in major cities.

Google has done this before with Chrome stores within a store in hundreds of Best Buy locations in the U.S. In the U.K., it has such stores in 50 PCWorld/Dixon locations where Google has trained the sales crew to know everything about chromebooks. According to one source, Google has much bigger plans with its own stores. At the Best Buy and Dixon locations, the Google crew is there just to answer questions and the actual transactions, including the handling of money, is left to the store's own employees. At Google's own stores, Google employees would have total control.

The decision to open these stores was planted in Google executives' minds when thinking about how they would sell Google Glass to the public. Without tech experts to show you Google Glass, it would be a hard sell in the $500-$1,000 price level that the device is expected to sell for. Once the decision was made to open a store to sell Google Glass, expanding the store to sell Google Nexus devices just seemed like a natural expansion of the idea. Speaking of ideas, Google also will have a chance at showing off its driverless cars and other technology.

Soon, "I'm heading to the Google Store, wanna come along?" will be heard throughout this country.

source: 9to5Google via BGR