Facebook parent Meta to open its first physical retail store next month

"The Meta retail store is a great way to see how our products connect people today and get a sense for what's coming as we build towards the metaverse," CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an Instagram post.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has announced it will launch its first physical retail space on May 9 in California, US.

The Meta Store will allow people to experience its hardware products Quest 2, Ray-Ban Stories, and Portal.

The 1,550-square feet store will feature products such as Meta’s first pair of smart glasses with Ray-Ban and Facebook’s line of video chat devices called Portal.

Apart from Ray-Ban Stories -- which can be ordered directly from the company website -- customers can also buy these gadgets and other accessories from the store.

The physical store will give “a sense for what’s coming” on the metaverse, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. "It's a great way to see how our products connect people today and get a sense for what's coming as we build towards the metaverse," he wrote in an Instagram post.

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Martin Gilliard, Head of Meta Store said in a statement, “The Meta Store is going to help people make that connection to how our products can be the gateway to the metaverse in the future."

"We’re not selling the metaverse in our store, but hopefully people will come in and walk out knowing a little bit more about how our products will help connect them to it.”

Meta had recently said it would start testing tools for selling digital assets and experiences within its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds -- a VR platform Meta launched in 2021. The company had also said it would charge a 47.5 per cent fee from creators of digital experiences and assets.