Check out Meta's 1st retail store in Bay Area that offers hands-on experience with cutting edge tech

ByDavid Louie KGO logo

Friday, May 6, 2022

Take a look inside Meta's 1st retail store in Burlingame

Meta's first retail store in Burlingame will give consumers interactive demos of its cutting edge products including its virtual reality Meta Quest.

BURLINGAME, Calif. (KGO) -- Starting Monday, Meta is opening its first retail store to give consumers interactive demos of its cutting edge technology products, including its virtual reality Meta Quest. The store is located at Meta's Reality Labs headquarters campus in Burlingame on Airport Boulevard. Staff will be on hand to help explain how various devices work and demonstrate their features. ABC7 News was invited to a preview tour Wednesday afternoon.

The 1,550 square foot store is relatively small compared to some electronics megastores, but it also provides a more intimate setting to check out the products. Meta is hoping the store experience will engage visitors and encourage their friends and family to check it out as well.

The largest display area is for Meta Quest, where consumers can try immersive games with a VR headset. Games include Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing and Supernatural. A large wall screen displays what the player is seeing on the headset. Meta also provides a free 30-second clip of your game play as a souvenir after collecting your mobile number. We'll see if that leads to text marketing messages.

In another area, Ray-Ban displays glasses that will stream music to your ears and let you take photos and videos with a tap on the stem.

A large table displays different models of Meta's Portal device for video calls that tracks the speaker so he or she is always in frame.

The Meta Store is clearly an opportunity for the company, formerly known as Facebook, to showcase what it sees as its metaverse future.

Meta products can be purchased on-site, while a representative from Ray-Ban Stories, the eyeglasses, arrange for orders.

The Meta Store is located at 322 Airport Blvd. in Burlingame. It will be open starting Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. This first store is likely to provide Meta will insights how to create more stores in the future.