Google Store Supposedly Not Happening Despite USD6 Million Renovation Expenses

According to a new report, Google will no longer pursue its plans to open its first-ever retail store.

The 5,442-square-foot SoHo space that Google purportedly leased last year was the company's designated retail space to sell its exclusive products like the Chromebook, Android Wearables and its Nexus mobile devices, Digital Trends said. Daniel Geiger for Crain's New York wrote that the space, which had undergone extensive restorations and renovations racking up to USD6 million in costs, now demands USD2.2 million in annual rent.

Principal Michael Glanzberg at the real estate brokerage and advisory group Sinvin Real Estate, who is marketing the ground-floor retail space at 131 Greene Street, said, "This is going to be a space for a brand at the top of their field. It's an extraordinary buildout—architecturally there really is nothing else like it in SoHo."

On the other hand, Endgadget said that the cancellation may not mean that Google will give up its plans to open up retail stores altogether.