WASHINGTON – Google is trying to take a bigger bite out of Apple and Microsoft’s holiday sales in retail stores by opening gadget showrooms in six locations, including in the Washington, D.C area.
Called Winter Wonderlabs, the stores will feature gadgets including Chromebook computers, Nexus 7 tablets, and Google Chromecast streaming devices.
Similar to the Apple and Microsoft stores, shoppers will be able to hold and experiment with devices which are also available for sale online.
Microsoft opened approximately 50 stores, after observing Apple’s success in retail.
The Washington-area store will actually be almost 30 miles away, in the Westfield Annapolis shopping mall.
The pop-up store, located in an atrium on the first floor of the mall, is open for business to display merchandise, but a giant snow globe that is part of the shopping experience is still being built.
Other cities opening the Winter Wonderlabs showrooms include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Paramus, N.J.
Google’s new website for the stores makes no mention whether these showrooms will continue to exist after the upcoming winter holiday season.
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