Google’s latest retail venture lands in sunny Santa Monica, California, with an official launch date of March 7th, as reported by 9to5Google:

“As teased at the end of Made by Google 2024 in August, a Google Store is coming to Santa Monica and will open Friday, March 7. This is Google’s sixth retail location and will be the second in California after Mountain View. It’s located at 1460 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401 and will open on Friday, March 7 at 10 a.m. PT."

While this is the closest Google Store to me since moving from the East Coast, it’s still a hefty 300+ miles away. This makes me wonder: Where’s Google’s ambition? Back in 2001, Apple boldly declared plans to open 50 stores in a single year. Apple proudly trumpeted this achievement in a newsroom press release:

“CUPERTINO, California—November 25, 2002—Apple® opened its 49th and 50th retail stores in the U.S. this weekend, with new store locations in Denver, Colorado and Emeryville, California. The Company now has stores in 24 states in the U.S., with a retail location within 15 miles of 85 million people, about one third of the U.S. population.” - Apple Newsroom

“We’re thrilled to have reached our 2002 goal of 50 retail stores in the U.S. in time for the holiday shopping season,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “Our stores are a great place to shop for hot holiday gifts like iMacs and iPods.”

Six stores in four states in nearly five years? This sluggish pace suggests a stark contrast to Steve Jobs’s retail vision back in 2001. Jobs understood that retail was about more than transactions; it was about education and experience. He envisioned Apple stores as hubs for learning about computers, the internet, and Apple’s ecosystem. Google has the same opportunity.

Google Stores could be dynamic spaces for exploring ChromeOS, the power of AI, and the breadth of Google’s offerings. In today’s tech landscape, Google is uniquely positioned to lead in this space. Why, then, the hesitant rollout of just six stores in under five years?