Commerce

Raspberry Pi gets its own brick-and-mortar retail store


The Raspberry Pi, believe it or not, now has its very own retail store.

Located on the first floor of the Grand Arcade in Cambridge, U.K., the Raspberry Pi Store is open through the day, every day, and sells everything from Raspberry Pi microcomputers and accessories, to branded coffee mugs, soft toys, and more.

Life of Pi

Raspberry Pi, for the uninitiated, is a credit card-sized contraption that serves as the building block for fully-functional computers. Users can construct working PCs or machines that control their connected home, for example, while it is also used by some third-party “maker” companies as part of their DIY computer kits.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation, the organization that develops the device, has come a long way since its launch way back in 2012. The not-for-profit now sells multiple versions of the device aimed at various use-cases, while it also sells related accessories such as touchscreen displays.

Above: Raspberry Pi Store: On the shelf

There are many examples of companies that started out online but later embraced brick-and-mortar sales — Amazon is one example, while Google has dabbled with its own retail outlets.

Despite its popularity — more than 19 million Raspberry Pi units have been sold since 2012 — the Raspberry Pi still feels a little niche to merit its own dedicated retail store. Indeed, most people who would be interested in building their own electronic gadgets from scratch are likely well-versed in the wonders of online retail. But conversely, that is likely the same reason why the Raspberry Pi Foundation wants its own space in the physical retail realm: it needs a new audience.

As we transition into a digital-first society, it will be increasingly necessary for people to understand the building blocks of hardware and have some coding knowledge. This is why we’ve seen an uptick in DIY maker kit companies such as Kano, Pi-top, Piper, each of which are attracting big venture capital (VC) bucks.

It seems that the Raspberry Pi retail store will serve as much as a showroom than anything else, and will sell everything you need to get up and running with a Pi. This includes books on how to get started with a Raspberry Pi, and other components needed to transform the little circuit board into something more functional.

It’s likely many parents out there just aren’t aware that there are such things as a Raspberry Pi to get their kids learning the basics of electronics and coding. So putting a physical retail store out there does make some sense, though it will have to justify the additional overheads through hard sales.



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