B8TA

B8ta, a 1,400 square-foot brick-and-mortar building, showcases items that are "all on the internet" but are available in-store to test and to  play with. B8ta is gambling that newfangled internet gadgets need to be tested and played with before people spend big money on them, and they are the kinds of purchases that benefit from the assistance of a highly-trained staffer. In other words, B8ta is a bet — perhaps unexpected from a Silicon Valley company — that brick-and-mortar retailing is going to continue to be durable, even preferable, in the digital era.