[merqumab]

I think having Google retail stores would've been great and given them some exposure and credibility with people less familiar with phones. That said, I would have also found it unusual given their push to sell things in the Play Store and the fact that they don't have that much hardware to sell.

[itcmcgrath]

I think it would make more sense to work out deals with existing retail stores to have small 'Google' sections much like happens with other brands. They could use that as a chearper/quickly/lower investment way start learning whether or not a real store would be viable.