Meta unveils AI glasses and VR headsets at West Hollywood flagship store

Meta Expands Retail Presence with New Flagship Store in Los Angeles

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has launched a new flagship store in Los Angeles that offers customers an immersive experience with its smart glasses and virtual reality headsets. The two-story facility, named Meta Lab, is located at 8600 Melrose Ave. in West Hollywood and spans over 20,000 square feet. It also highlights the vibrant skate culture of Southern California.

“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 reflects Meta’s growing efforts to expand its retail presence and encourage more people to purchase its virtual reality headsets and AI glasses. For tech companies, physical stores serve as a crucial platform for building brand awareness and customer loyalty, especially when dealing with high-cost devices.

Apple is well-known for its sleek and modern stores where customers can interact with their laptops and smartphones. This year, Google also opened its first Southern California retail store in Santa Monica, offering a space for people to explore its smartphones, watches, and smart home devices. While Meta is most recognized for Facebook, many customers may not be aware that it also sells hardware.

The L.A. store, which initially started as a pop-up last year, is the second permanent retail space that 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 mentioned that the company plans to open more stores in the future. The Los Angeles retail space features a miniature skate park where visitors can capture images using Meta’s AI glasses. There are also spots for taking photos and stations to learn about the company’s devices. A vinyl listening room allows visitors to compare the sound quality of Meta’s glasses with traditional speakers.

Graffiti and mural art from Los Angeles artist Saber, also known as Ryan Weston Shook, adorn the space. The company also collaborated 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. The store, called Meta Lab, will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The store’s opening coincided with the unveiling of Meta’s latest lineup of smart glasses ahead of the holiday shopping season. These glasses allow users to capture images, listen to music, translate languages, and ask an AI assistant questions similar to how they would on a smartphone.

Although smart glasses have not yet become mainstream, sales have increased as companies like Meta, Google, Apple, Snap, and Samsung compete to develop new AI-powered devices. Meta is selling more advanced versions of Ray-Ban Meta glasses starting at $379, featuring longer battery life, an AI assistant, and the ability to capture more vivid videos. Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses start at $499 for sports use, while Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which include a high-tech wristband, start at $799 and allow users to send text messages and complete tasks using subtle hand gestures.

Customers can purchase Meta’s glasses and headsets at the store. However, appointments are required to demo the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses.

On Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses have tripled in sales over the past year and that users are utilizing them frequently. “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 during an earnings call with analysts. “And they let you blend the physical and digital worlds together with holograms.”

Meta has been heavily investing in the metaverse, a concept involving virtual spaces where people can socialize, work, and play through devices like VR headsets and smart glasses. The company hasn’t disclosed exact sales figures for its AI glasses or virtual reality headsets. However, its Reality Labs division reported a loss of $4.4 billion in the third quarter but generated $470 million in revenue.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Meta is leading the smart glasses market. The firm estimates that Meta accounted for approximately 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 over 3.5 million pairs of its Ray-Ban smart glasses from late 2023 to the second quarter of 2025, according to IDC.

IDC predicts that the market for smart glasses without displays will grow to 9.4 million units in 2025, representing a 247.5% increase from 2024, primarily driven by Meta. Chinese tech companies like Xiaomi and Huawei also sell smart glasses, but their sales still lag behind Meta, and they are not as well-known in the U.S., according to IDC.

Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC who covers wearables, noted that opening a store in Los Angeles allows Meta to leverage its network of creators and celebrities to promote its AI glasses. Products featured in movies can boost brand awareness, and Los Angeles is home to the entertainment industry. When Tom Cruise wore Ray-Bans in films like "Risky Business" and "Top Gun," it helped increase the popularity of the sunglasses.

People also need to understand how the glasses function. “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 plans to open another pop-up in New York, which will also feature 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.