With so many retailers ailing or going bust, it seems kind of counterintuitive for a tech company to jump into the business. Then again, Apple (AAPL) has shown it can work extremely well if done correctly. And it looks like Google (GOOG) is getting ready to try its hand with a Google store.

GOOG appears to be setting up a retail location on 131 Green Street, which is in the hipster SoHo district of New York City. On the same block, there are stores like Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren (RL), Louis Vuitton and even an Apple Store.

The Google store will be 8,000 square feet, according to Venturebeat. And yes, the details are sketchy. Like Apple, GOOG is pretty good at keeping things secret — which actually helps to enhance the buzz by keeping rumors in circulation.

The move into retail with the Google store is not new to the folks at GOOG — the company has been rolling out stores in Europe and Australia. As for the U.S., the company has stores-within-stores in Best Buy (BBY) locations. GOOG has also experimented with pop-up stores in the U.S.

All in all, the company is in a good position to make its NYC store a success. Let’s face it, GOOG has a standout brand and a massive user base (with more than 1 billion users on YouTube alone). But GOOG has been launching hardware like Glass and the Chromebook line. Of course, the company recently spent $3.2 billion on Nest, which is the developer of the cutting-edge thermostat.

The Google store can also be a testing ground for new devices as well. For example, at this week’s SXSW conference, the company announced a set of Android tools to help create wearables, such as Internet-connected watches. With GOOG stock already at a staggering market cap of $404 billion, the company has no choice but to get aggressive on this market opportunity.

But to be successful, the company will need a retail footprint. No doubt, it helps that GOOG has tremendous resources and can leverage its massive data. What’s more, by starting in NYC, the Google store should be able to gin up lots of excitement and create a “cool” factor, which will help build a solid foundation for a rollout of Google stores across the U.S.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook. He is also the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.