First visit to the new Google Store in San Diego was kind of a letdown
Checked out the new Google Store in San Diego and walked out pretty underwhelmed.
The store looks nice. No issue there. It has the polished tech-store look you would expect. But once you actually walk around, it starts to feel like the same few things repeated over and over. A lot of the space felt like it was there to make the store feel bigger than the product lineup really is.
And before someone says it, yes, I know the Pixel Tablet is discontinued. I also know there are no current Google-branded Chromebooks sitting out there right now. That is kind of my point.
For a dedicated Google store, I expected it to feel more like a real Google ecosystem experience. Android, Pixel, ChromeOS, smart home, AI, services, how everything works together. Something. Instead it felt mostly like Pixel phones, watches, earbuds, cases, and then more of the same.
The weirdest part was seeing older Nest displays still sitting there at full price. Those products feel dated, but they were presented like they were still a big part of the lineup. That made the whole thing feel even more like they were just trying to fill shelves.
It was not terrible. The staff seemed fine, the store looked good, and I am glad San Diego has one. But for Google’s first store here, I expected more than a nice room with a thin product lineup.
Mostly it just felt boring, which is probably the worst thing a Google store can be.