Meta Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, had announced the launch of its first hardware store on its Burlingame, California campus. The store is scheduled to open on May 9th, 2022, and visitors will be able to try on and purchase all of their products, including Portal video-calling devices, Oculus Quest VR headsets, and Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, which launched last year, as well as get advice ordering them online. Customers can also purchase all of these products straight at Meta.com.

Portal will have a demo space at Meta’s store where customers may try out the video calling features with a store employee. Visitors will receive a 30-second mixed reality clip showing them playing a game, as well as a space to test different Quest 2 demos, including Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing, and Supernatural.

They can also try on different models of Ray-Ban glasses, which have built-in cameras that capture and share video and test their capabilities before purchasing. Meta is also creating a “Shop” link to its website, which will make it easier to find all of its products in one destination.

The new stores offer another opportunity to sell consumers on the company’s even now virtual and augmented reality (also referred to as “metaverse“) technology, which is a major focus area.

It is a small 1,550-square-foot store that will open near Meta’s Reality Labs headquarters in Burlingame (at 322 Airport Boulevard), rather than in a major metropolitan center like Google‘s store in Manhattan. It will be open Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

According to Meta’s head Martin Gilliard stated that the Burlingame location “gives us more opportunity to experiment and keep the customer experience core to our development,” lessons from which will “help define our future retail strategy.”