Meta to Expand Retail Presence Amid Intensifying Smart Glasses Competition

You know when you just get a gut feeling about something? Like, Meta and their whole retail thing — it’s been hanging in the air for a while. Maybe they’ve finally decided to dive in deeper. Business Insider, bless their investigative chops, says Meta’s eyeing up stores beyond that one lonely spot they’ve got.

Apparently, they’re in the hiring mood. Must be thinking that more brick-and-mortar havens are the way to go. I mean, they tried those pop-up gigs last year, and maybe they liked how it felt? Or maybe it was just a whim. Whatever. Feels like they’re sort of gazing in Apple’s direction retail-wise, but who knows? Business stuff floats around like rumors at a family dinner — everyone’s got a version, but who can say?

I remember hearing about this pop-up in LA, right? Got people talking, but honestly, Meta’s been popping up (pun intended, or not, who knows) here and there since 2016. Even rubbed elbows with Best Buy to show off the latest XR headsets. A bit of show and tell for the tech-hungry masses.

(Oh, there’s an image of Meta’s LA spot — shiny and polished. Typical Meta vibe, right?)

They’ve got that one permanent store in Burlingame, sharing the love for their Quest gadgets and those Ray-Ban smart specs. Speaking of specs, it seems like those glasses are a big push right now. Made a splash in 2024, selling over a million pairs. Mark Zuckerberg must’ve been grinning.

Over at EssilorLuxottica — the folks teaming up with Meta — CEO Milleri was buzzing about ramping up production to 10 million by 2026, just tossing numbers like confetti. Gotta love it.

Oh, those Ray-Ban glasses have all the gizmos: cameras, AI assistants, speakers. A spy’s daydream or a techie’s charm? Depends on whom you ask, I guess. And Bloomberg threw in a tidbit — more smart glasses incoming, maybe? Some Oakley action too. Sporty tech… why not?

Google’s not in the backseat, either. Flaunted their glasses at an I/O event. Teaming up with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster (weirdly interesting name, right?). Everyone’s in on this smart glasses trend, it seems.

And Apple, always the wildcard, might be cooking up something chip-wise for glasses. Borrowed from their Apple Watch know-how, aiming for power efficiency. Guess we’re all just waiting to see what kind of sci-fi eyewear future we end up in.

So, the retail world’s buzzing. Smart glasses are all the rage — it’s anyone’s guess what’s next. But hey, it’s a ride, right?