Meta will be launching its first metaverse-themed store in San Francisco. The store will allow users to enjoy immersive metaverse experiences. The store launch date is – May 9.
Meta, the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram, has announced it will open up a retail store for metaverse products. The store will be based in the San Francisco Peninsula, and it will provide the hardware needed to support virtual reality spaces.
Meta to open a metaverse-themed store
Meta issued an announcement on Monday saying that it will open a retail store in Burlingame, California. The store will be launched on May 9 to offer interactive and immersive experiences regarding the company’s hardware products curated to support metaverse spaces.
The products to be displayed in this store include virtual reality headsets, video communication displays and smart glasses. The store will be situated within the Meta campus. The store will have a wall-to-wall curved LED screen that displays what the users see using their Meta headsets.
Martin Gilliard, the head of the store, said that “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 gained its new name in October last year. At the time, the company said that it was focusing beyond being a social media firm, adding that it had a bold vision for the metaverse and would link social experiences and the physical world.
Meta has never had a retail store since the company’s creation in 2004. The company has roughly 2.9 billion users, and this will be the first time that these users will have a chance to access a brick and mortar store for the company’s products. Nevertheless, other technology companies such as Apple already have physical stores.
Giant brands move towards the metaverse
The metaverse has proven to be an extremely interesting space for some leading brands across different industries. The brands are focusing on the immersive experiences that the metaverse can offer.
In January, Samsung, a South Korean electronics giant, announced that it would be launching a metaverse store on Decentraland. The metaverse store would allow its customers to have a better experience and have a chance to access virtual products.
Recently, Nissan and Toyota announced plans to venture into the metaverse. Nissan announced that it would venture into the metaverse to allow its customers to have a better way of creating engagements. On the other hand, Toyota announced it would move into the metaverse to allow its personnel to work in an online virtual world.
There have also been reports that some of the largest retail stores, such as Walmart, could also venture into metaverse offerings by replicating what Meta is offering. However, none of the leading global retailers has confirmed such plans.
JPMorgan, one of the leading institutions on Wall Street, recently launched its Onyx Lounge on Decentraland. The lounge allows clients to access the virtual world.
