Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, opened a new flagship store in Los Angeles where people can try out their smart glasses and virtual reality headsets while learning about local culture.
The two-story building called Meta Lab, located 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’s opening on 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 their laptops and smartphones. This year, Google also opened its first Southern California retail store in Santa Monica, allowing people to check out the tech giant’s smartphones, watches and smart home devices. While Meta is behind the world’s most popular social network Facebook, some customers might not know it also sells hardware.
Meta Lab has a skateboarding theme celebrating the skating community and culture.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
The L.A. store, which started as a pop-up 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 has also showcased its devices in retailers such as Best Buy, LensCrafters and Ray-Ban stores.
Jacobson said the company aims to open more stores in the future.
The Los Angeles retail space features a miniature skate park that people can capture images of with Meta’s AI glasses, spots to take photos and stations to learn about the company’s devices. The store also has a vinyl listening room so visitors can experience how the sound compares to the speakers on Meta’s glasses.
Graffiti and mural art from Los Angeles artist Saber, also known as Ryan Weston Shook, fill the space. The company also worked with skate artist, photographer, and creative director Mark Oblow on the store’s skateboarding theme .
Meta plans to host events in the space and the theme will change throughout the year, Jacobson said. The store, called Meta Lab, will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The store’s opening came after Meta unveiled its latest lineup of smart glasses ahead of the holiday shopping season.
The glasses allow people to capture images, listen to music, translate languages and ask an AI assistant questions like they would do on a smartphone.
Although the gadgets haven’t become mainstream, sales of smart glasses have picked up as companies such as Meta, Google, Apple, Snap and Samsung compete head-to-head to build new AI-powered devices.
Meta is selling a more advanced pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses starting at $379 with a longer battery life, AI assistant and the ability to capture more vivid videos; Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses starting at $499 designed for sports; and Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses with a high-tech wristband starting at $799 that makes it possible for people to send text messages and complete other tasks using subtle hand gestures.
Customers can purchase Meta’s glasses and headsets at the store. Appointments are required, though, to demo the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses.
Jordan Marksberry tries a game wearing a VR headset at the Meta Lab opening.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
On Wednesday, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses have tripled in sales in the last year and “people who have them are using them a lot.”
“Glasses are the ideal form factor for both AI and the metaverse. They enable you to let an AI see what you see, hear what you hear, and talk to you throughout the day,” he said in an earnings call with analysts. “And they let you blend the physical and digital worlds together with holograms.”
Meta has been investing heavily in the metaverse, virtual spaces where people can socialize, work and play through devices such as VR headsets and smart glasses.
The company hasn’t shared how many AI glasses or virtual reality headsets it has sold. Meta’s Reality Labs division, which develops augmented reality and virtual reality technology hardware, software and platforms, lost $4.4 billion in the third quarter but generated $470 million in revenue.
Meta Lab is open in West Hollywood where visitors can try and buy Meta VR wearables.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Meta is a front-runner in the smart glasses race, according to the International Data Corporation, which provides market intelligence on consumer technology. The firm estimates that Meta accounted for about 60% of the global market for display-less smart glasses, along with augmented and virtual reality headsets, during the second quarter of 2025.
Meta shipped more than 3.5 million pairs of its Ray-Ban smart glasses from late 2023 to the second quarter of 2025, according to IDC.
IDC anticipates the market for smart glasses without displays will grow to 9.4 million in 2025, up 247.5% from 2024, mainly driven by Meta.
Chinese tech companies such as Xiaomi and Huawei also sell smart glasses, but their sales still trail far behind Meta, and they’re not as well known in the U.S., according to IDC.
Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC who covers wearables, said opening a store in Los Angeles allows Meta to leverage its network of creators and celebrities to market its AI glasses. Products featured in movies can elevate brand awareness and Los Angeles is home to the entertainment industry.
When Tom Cruise wore Ray-Bans in well-known films such as “Risky Business” and “Top Gun,” that helped fuel the popularity of the sunglasses, he said.
A Meta glasses shadow decorates the outside of the Meta Lab that is open in West Hollywood.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
People also need to learn about how the glasses work.
“There’s this network effect that’s built from there, but all that starts with educating the user as to what these glasses can do,” he said.
In October, Meta also opened a 560-square-foot retail pop-up space at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel. It’s also planning to open a pop-up in New York, which will also have a skate theme.
“We’re a people first company and I think the way we shine a light on people and communities in these stores is going to be really important,” said Jacobson, who grew up in Manhattan Beach.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
