Meta Tiptoes Into Retail; How Coachella Went Bigger on AR This Year

Meta Platforms may be trying to usher millions into the metaverse, but first it needs to sell more hardware—and so today comes the unveiling of a brick and mortar Meta Store, a place for the company to experiment ahead of a possible wider retail rollout. Opening in Burlingame, California on May 9, the shop nestled in Meta’s Reality Labs campus near the San Francisco International Airport will let visitors try out the Quest 2 headset, Ray-Ban Stories glasses and Portal devices before buying.

This has been a long time coming. As The New York Times reported last fall, Meta began looking into opening stores months before its October rebranding. In retail, though, style can be more important than speed. Regardless of how quickly Meta opens up more stores, the way it goes about establishing a retail identity and refining its customer experience at this store may matter more in the long run.