Meta opens flagship store in West Hollywood to test AI glasses and VR

Meta opens flagship store in West Hollywood to test AI glasses and VR headsets

Meta has opened a flagship store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, where customers can try out AI glasses and virtual reality (VR) headsets. This space also pays tribute to Los Angeles’ skateboarding culture.

This store, covering an area of approximately 20000 square feet, features a mini skateboard rink, vinyl record listening room, and interactive photo area, aimed at allowing visitors to learn about Meta’s latest hardware products.

Meta’s retail expansion reflects the surge in demand for AI glasses – Ray Ban Meta glasses sales have tripled.

As the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta has opened this new flagship store in Los Angeles County, where people can not only experience its smart glasses and VR headsets, but also feel the local cultural atmosphere.

This two-story building, named “Meta Lab,” located at 8600 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, covers an area of over 20000 square feet and also showcases Southern California’s skateboarding culture.

Matt Jacobson, Vice President and Creative Director of Meta AI Wearable Devices, said, “We have examined the development direction of global retail and found that retail is becoming increasingly focused on experience. If we don’t put experience at the core and just open one store, it’s meaningless for us

Retail Expansion and AI Hardware Promotion

The opening of this store on Saturday marks Meta’s continued expansion of its retail layout to attract more people to purchase its VR headsets and AI glasses.

For technology companies, physical stores are a way to establish brand awareness and loyalty with customers, especially when they are considering purchasing expensive equipment.

Apple is known for its simple and modern retail stores; Google also opened its first Southern California store in Santa Monica this year. Although Meta is one of the world’s largest social media platforms, many consumers may not be aware that it also produces hardware devices.

In store design and experience space

This West Hollywood store initially operated in a pop-up format last year and has now become Meta’s second permanent retail space. Its first physical store opened in Burlingame, California in 2022. Afterwards, Meta also showcased its equipment in retail channels such as Best Buy, LensCrafts, and Ray Ban.

Jacobson revealed that the company plans to open more stores in the future.