Or rather, of Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the company, has decided to go from virtual to real, opening a store in Burlingame, California. The store will officially open its doors on May 9th and will allow customers to purchase Portal, Meta’s video calling device, and of course Quest, the virtual reality headset. There should also be a demo area dedicated to Ray-Ban Stories, the smart glasses launched last year in collaboration with the Luxottica brand.
The first Meta store will open on May 9th
Meta is working hard to give shape to its metaverse, a virtual space where it will be possible to really do anything, including shopping.
In the meantime, however, the American company has decided to focus on the dear old retail world. In short, on physical stores. Here because on May 9th the doors of the first will open Meta store.
The store will allow users to purchase the Portal and Quest series devices but there are also a number of demonstration areas. In particular it will be possible test the Portals for video calls, with the support of a salesman, and even Meta’s VR viewers. There should be a number of games available including Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing e Supernatural. Among other things, visitors will be able to take home a 30-second clip showing them playing with Oculus. Just to entice them to buy Quest 2.
Space also for Ray-Ban Stories, the smart glasses that it will obviously be possible to try on directly inside the Meta store, so visitors will be able to discover what it means to create Facebook Stories with cameras and microphones integrated directly into the glasses.
Is this the right place?
Meta’s move isn’t particularly original. Others before Zuckerberg took this step. Think for example of Google, which opened its store last year after years of pop up stores.
What is surprising, however, is the place. Instead of focusing on a big city, like Google with New York, the Menlo Park company opted for Burlingame, a town located near Reality Labs in Meta.
The timetables are also peculiar. The store will be open from 11.00 to 18.00, from Monday to Friday. No weekends, a time when people are known to go shopping.
To justify the choice is Martin Gilliard, Head of Meta Store – Reality Labs, who declared that the chosen location “will allow Meta to experiment and keep the consumer experience at the center of the development strategy“, Which will allow the company to“ define the sales strategy of the future ”.