Google will open a new physical retail store tomorrow, finally moving off the coasts

When it comes to physical retail stores owned and operated by the best smartphone manufacturers, Apple is way, way ahead of any of its competitors here in the United States, with over 250 locations. Samsung is the furthest along, with just five US shops — a dismal showing against Apple. Google is catching up, though, with four successful shops. Unfortunately, all those Google Store locations are on the East or West Coasts, leaving many shoppers out of the loop.

Thankfully, Google is making headway here. Tomorrow, November 1, the company will launch the first Google Store in Chicago, specifically in the Oak Brook suburb at 63 Oakbrook Center. This will be its fifth permanent retail store, with the other four being Chelsea (Manhattan, NY), Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY), Newbury (Boston, MA), and Mountain View (California, right near Google’s main headquarters). We visited the Mountain View location last year, so give that a look and see what it’s like.

Overall, Google Store Oakbrook looks to be one of the smaller shops in the family. The gallery below and the image above show how the location only has one big room and does not appear to have the meeting/event spaces we’ve seen at a few other locations.

Still, the core idea of the store is that you can go to a physical location to try out Google products, get devices repaired, or just get help figuring out if a Google gadget is right for you. If that’s all you care about, the Oakbrook location will suit you just fine.

Google has held satellite events at Google Store locations in the past, including during the launch of the new Pixel smartphones. It’s possible we could see an event happen in Chicago in the future. In the meantime, if you’re in or around Chi-town, head to the Oakbrook Google Store to see what it’s all about!