Meta introduced the Meta Store on Monday, which would be the company's first attempt to sell its material products directly to customers in person, such as the Quest 2 virtual reality headset and Portal video conferencing gadget.
Unlike, for example, the Apple Store, there will be only one Meta Store for the time being, and it will be located on the company's Burlingame site (specifically, at 322 Airport Boulevard).
Meta is the latest tech company to create a physical location to display its products. Last year, Google opened one of these stores in New York.
Microsoft closed its 83 stores in 2020, but repurposed a couple as "experience centers" in 2021 and began selling things there. For years, Apple has made its hundreds of stores a central aspect of its company.
The establishment will open on May 9, according to Meta. It's part of an effort to raise awareness of Meta's aspirations for a "metaverse" - a sci-fi notion that envisions an immersive version of the internet that the firm spent billions of dollars on last year through Facebook Reality Labs.
In a blog post, Meta Store director Martin Gilliard stated, "The Meta Store will help consumers understand the connection to how the products may be the doorway to the metaverse in the future."
Since this store will be located on Meta's campus, employees will have a "greater chance to experiment and make the client experience central to our development," according to Gilliard.
It's unclear whether Meta intends to expand the Meta Store beyond Burlingame as Apple did in 2001 with its quick launch of Apple Stores around the world. According to a Meta spokeswoman, the company has no plans to build any further stores after the first one.
Meta is the market leader in the meager but fast-developing VR headset sector. According to Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC, approximately 11 million VR headsets were supplied in 2021, a 96% increase over the 5.6 million sold the year before.
Customers who wish to buy the Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses that were developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban will be brought to a Ray-Ban website, according to Meta.
Meta said in a blog post on Monday that the store will allow visitors to try out various products and will include a virtual reality arena where clients can try out games like Beat Saber and Real VR Fishing. These VR demonstrations will be shown to the public on a massive, curved LED screen in the store.
