Yesterday was a fun day for Techaeris. Alex and I stopped at the Museum of Science and Industry in the morning to chat with them about robots, then we made a pit stop at the new Motorola store at 108 N. State St. in Chicago. The temporary Moto shop is a bit of an experiment, but Motorola hopes that customers will take the opportunity to visit and see some of Motorola’s newest hardware in action.
We had a chance to speak with Julia, a representative from Motorola about the goals of the store, and Motorola’s reasoning for opening a physical location for the holidays. You can watch us chat in the video below, but keep reading to get an overview of the store, and some of the fun ways to interact with Moto products.
The Moto shop has a storefront right off of State Street in a prominent location in Block 37 — a retail, residential, and hotel development in the Loop. Moto should see quite a bit of foot traffic through the area, and they’re undoubtedly hoping that some of those pedestrians will stop in and see what Moto has to offer.
Upon entering the store from the State Street entrance, you’ll first encounter the Moto 360 Moto Maker station to the left, and the Moto X Moto Maker station to the right. Moving forward into the store along the left hand wall there’s a set of registers, a display of all current Moto hardware, and a cafe stand where I heard rumors of free cookies being handed out. On the right is the Droid Turbo 2 drop test zone, the Moto X camera photo shoot area, and some more Lenovo phones and tablets on display.
The Moto 360 Moto Maker area displayed all of the available customization options available when you build your own Moto 360. You could see the various parts and bands you can choose from, and you could build and buy your very own Moto 360 right from the store. That is a bit of a theme throughout the store. After seeing the various options available you can order your favorite combination quickly and easily right from the store.
The Moto X Maker area was similar, though with a more interactive twist. There were six stations available with dummy phones (and a tethered Moto X, we’ll get to that later) as well as all of the available backing options and small dishes with all of the camera accent pieces. Along with the phone parts, there were other available props you could use to set up your photo. From there, you can take a photo with the functional tethered Moto X and send it to yourself. After you’ve sent yourself a photo, you can enter for a chance to win a Moto 360. That was another theme of the store, the possibility of winning a Moto 360. There are a few different ways you can win by taking part in some of the festivities in the store. You’ll probably want to stop by for the grand opening on the 14th if you can.
As you heard in my conversation with Julia, the store offers an opportunity for people to check out Motorola products and actually hold the phones and feel the materials in your hand before purchasing. While some people are perfectly ok with ordering things online sight unseen, there are plenty more people that prefer to actually see and hold a product — especially something like a cellphone or smartwatch — before purchasing. Since all of Moto’s customization options are only sold online, the store offers a perfect opportunity to see how the available options look and feel before buying.
Then there’s the fun stuff… You may have already seen our Droid Turbo 2 drop test video (if not, you can see it below), and honestly I was quite impressed with the resiliency of the device. This was a rather controlled experience, but there have been plenty of more extreme examples in real-life situations (and even some truly crazy examples, baseball bat? Really?) that show the Droid Turbo 2 really can take a licking.
Next was the Moto Photo Studio where you could use the available props to adorn yourself before getting a picture snapped with the Moto X and its 21MP camera. The photo shoot offers another opportunity to win a Moto 360, so if you want to maximize your chances, be sure to send yourself a photo.
Honestly, if you’re in or around Chicago and have been thinking about purchasing a new Motorola device you really should stop by their shop at 108 N. State Street. You can see everything that Moto has to offer, and even have a few chances to win your very own Moto 360. If you stop by and Julia is working, tell Jules that we say hello!
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
