Inside Samsung's new Silicon Valley retail store, which is opening up down the road from its main ri

By Katie Canales

Originally published in Business Insider

Samsung is opening a retail experience store in Palo Alto, California, in what is the company's fourth store opening of its kind in the US.
The store is designed to give customers firsthand access to the company's product line, as well as device support and repair services.
We toured the new store days before it opened to the public. Take a look inside.

Samsung enthusiasts in Silicon Valley will soon have a physical destination to test out the tech giant's products.

The company is opening a retail experience store in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California, home to long-time tenant and consumer electronics competitor Apple.

The retail store will be open to the public starting on Thursday, December 12. It's the fourth retail location of its kind in the US, with others already in Southern California, Long Island, New York, and Houston, Texas.

The idea behind the store is to give Samsung customers firsthand access to the full breadth of the company's product line, from tablets and laptops to the Galaxy line of smartphones, including the company's new $2,000 Galaxy Fold. The foldable smartphone isn't in stock in the store, but customers can test it out upon request, and preorders are available. Full customer service is also available, like device repair and support.

The company said it has plans to roll out retail stores globally in the future.

"Every new store opened around the world will be based on this prototype," Alan Robles, Samsung's vice president of retail design and development, told the media during a preview of the store.

We visited the new location two days before it opened to the public. Check it out.

Samsung's fourth US retail store will soon open in the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto, California.

We toured the 5,000-square-foot space a couple of days before it opened to the public on December 12.

Lights in purple and blue hues bathed the entire store. It's a different, though still cool, vibe from the crisp white layout Apple customers are used to experiencing in the tech giant's own retail stores.