Meta opens store for wearables

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, opened a new flagship store in Los Angeles County where people can try out their smart glasses and virtual reality headsets while learning about local culture.

- By QuEENIE WonG

MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times

AT META Lab in West Hollywood, visitors can try and buy Meta smart glasses and virtual reality headsets.

The two-story building called Meta Lab, at 8600 Melrose Ave. in West Hollywood, spans more than 20,000 square feet and also highlights Southern California’s skate scene.

“We spent a lot of time around the world looking at where retail is and where it’s headed, and it all felt to us to be really experiential,” said Matt Jacobson, vice president and creative director of artificial intelligence wearables at Meta. “Just to open a store without it being built around experiences, just didn’t seem to make sense.”

The store, which opened Saturday, underscores how Meta is expanding its retail presence as it tries to entice more people to buy its virtual reality headsets and AI glasses.

For technology companies, brick-and-mortar stores offer a way to build brand awareness and loyalty among customers who are weighing whether to buy an expensive device.

‘Apple is well-known for its sleek and modern-looking stores where people go to interact with its laptops and smartphones. This year, Google opened its first Southern California retail store in Santa Monica, enabling people to check out the tech giant's smartphones, watches and smart home devices. Although Meta is behind the world’s most popular social network Facebook, some customers might not know it also sells hardware.

The West Hollywood store, which started as a popup last year, is the second permanent retail space Meta has opened. The Menlo Park-based company unveiled its first store in Burlingame, Calif., in 2022. Since then, Meta also has showcased its devices in retailers such as Best Buy, LensCrafters and RayBan stores.

Jacobson said the company aims to open more stores in the future.