Meta Plans to Expand Retail Stores Amid Rising Smart Glasses Competition

Okay, so, Meta’s been kinda dipping its toes into the retail world for a while, right? Apparently, they’re finally getting serious about it. Business Insider says they’re hiring retail peeps and planning more actual stores—like, beyond those quick pop-up things they did last year.

So, picture this: Meta trying to act all Apple-like with their retail concepts. Except, you know, in their very-Meta way. Apparently, this isn’t even really known inside Meta yet, so it’s still early stages. But, hey, plans are plans, right?

Those pop-up gigs they did? Yeah, especially in LA last year. They caught some buzz—but did you know Meta’s been doing these little pop-up dance moves since 2016? Yep, teaming up with Best Buy and all that jazz, just to show off their XR headsets.

Oh, and there’s only one real Meta Store, like, a permanent one. It’s in Burlingame, California, right next to their Reality Labs. Opened up in 2022. You can mess around with Quest 3, Quest 3S, and check out those Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses there.

Honestly, the big push? It’s those Ray-Ban Meta Glasses. They’re working with some eyewear bigwig, EssilorLuxottica. In 2024, they moved over a million pairs of those babies—Zuckerberg even said it was “a great start.” Sounds like he’s kinda pumped?

Anyway, EssilorLuxottica’s big boss said they’re gonna boost production to crank out 10 million units a year by 2026. These glasses have cameras, can take pics, videos, and have this Meta AI talking to you. Off-ear speakers too. They come in a bunch of styles, but that’s always subject to change, right?

On a side note, Bloomberg mentioned in April that Meta’s cooking up some new smart glasses—one’s gonna have a display, another’s gonna be more sporty, from Oakley. Competition’s heating up because Google’s flexing their own smart glasses soon, partnering with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. And don’t even get me started on Apple—they’re supposedly diving into the scene too, with some fancy, energy-efficient chips and multi-camera control. Wild times in the smart glasses world!