Meta Lab is expanding its physical retail presence by opening six new standalone stores in Houston, Atlanta, San Diego, Chicago, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Moynihan Station in New York City over the coming months (Modern Retail). This expansion will nearly double Meta Lab's store footprint, which totaled eight locations before the Houston store opened on September 10 (Modern Retail). The stores showcase Meta's full range of AI glasses, including Meta Glasses starting at $299, Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, Ray-Ban Display glasses at $799, and Meta Quest VR headsets, with on-site eye doctors available for prescription lens orders (Modern Retail).
The expansion reflects Meta's broader strategy to drive adoption of wearables through experiential retail. Meta sold at least 7 million glasses last year (Modern Retail), and revenue for the smart-glasses category grew 233% over the 12 months ending in May (Modern Retail). Meta and EssilorLuxottica control more than 80% of the smart-glasses market (Modern Retail). For commerce practitioners, these physical stores serve as a customer-acquisition and data-gathering tool, allowing Meta to introduce shoppers to new hardware, promote ecosystem services, and build behavior change around AI-powered wearables—ultimately driving long-term ecosystem lock-in.
The move complements Meta's broader retail strategy, which includes shop-in-shops at Best Buy that are on track to reach 50 locations by the end of 2026 (Modern Retail). However, privacy concerns persist, with investigations launched in Texas and warnings from law enforcement about potential security risks (Modern Retail). Retailers watching this space should monitor how Meta's experiential strategy evolves and whether privacy safeguards influence mainstream adoption rates.