Brick and mortar retail got a boost today--just not on the Avenue or B'way. Meta (aka Facebook) has announced a shop at the old Drive-in location and The Registry is regurgitating the press release:
Today, we’re announcing Meta Store — our first physical retail space, which will open May 9 on our campus in Burlingame, California. In the Meta Store, you’ll be able to get hands-on experience with all our hardware products.
Through interactive demos, you can make video calls to retail associates with Portal, learn how Ray-Ban Stories can help you stay present with the world around you, and explore the magic of VR with a first-of-its-kind immersive Quest 2 demo.
The Meta Store also features an interactive Quest 2 display wall, allowing you to explore the hardware, its accessories, and the breadth of content available today. Last but not least is our immersive Quest 2 demo area, where you can try Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing or Supernatural on a large, wall-to-wall curved LED screen that displays what you’re seeing in-headset. You’ll also get a 30-second mixed reality clip of your demo experience that’s yours to share.
Starting May 9, the store will be open Monday through Friday from 11:00AM to 6:00PM PT. It’s located at 322 Airport Blvd in Burlingame, California.
It looks a lot more interesting than the Amazon store on the Avenue. Hopefully they move a lot of product and generate a lot of sales tax for B'game. I do wonder if they designed the parking structure to account for a retail space with non-employee parking access since all of the parking is in the structure. While we wait for Top Golf out on the Bayfront, GOLF+ may be the next best thing.
May 25 Update: I stopped into the Meta store today to have a look. There's plenty of staff to give you a tour of the Rayban smart glasses and the Portal device. The glasses are kind of cool and maybe a bit spooky with the dual cameras and video capability. The Portal looks to be well-designed with more capability than the competition. It's already a year old (a long time in consumer electronics) so probably wait for v2. The virtual reality demo requires an appointment, so plan ahead. Not the most obvious location, so use this photo and the signs to guide you.
More like Beta. They, or the City, can't even get the traffic lights to go red yellow green. It's been two years since they were built. Still flashing red.
Posted by: MV | May 14, 2022 at 10:21 AM
I was out there last week for a tour and the campus is beautiful. There is plenty of open space for the public (as was required by plan approvals) and a nice coffee shop where you can grab a cup and enjoy watching the wind surfers🌞
Posted by: CathyBaylock | May 22, 2022 at 09:26 AM
I've updated the original post after my visit today. See above.
Posted by: Joe | May 25, 2022 at 05:18 PM
Could we soon be seeing offers to sublet space out at the big Meta campus on the Bayfront? Should the Planning Commission be requiring that new "commercial" development be fitted out as a "hybrid" so when some crazy business model collapses, it can be turned into housing to help the "crisis"? From Tuesday's WSJ before the Meta stock shrinkage from around $350 to sub-$100:
An investment firm said in an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on Monday that Meta Platforms Inc. should slash staff and pare back its metaverse ambitions, in a sign of rising discontent among shareholders.
Altimeter Capital Chief Executive Brad Gerstner wrote that Mr. Zuckerberg needs to take drastic steps to streamline Meta’s operations and address a steep drop in the share price.
“Like many other companies in a zero-rate world—Meta has drifted into the land of excess—too many people, too many ideas, too little urgency,” Mr. Gerstner said in the letter. “Meta needs to get its mojo back.”
Meta shares are down more than 50% in the past 18 months, slicing more than $600 billion from the company’s market value. Meta reports earnings after the bell on Wednesday.
Mr. Gerstner wrote that Meta should cut head count expenses by 20%, echoing the views of others who have recently argued that tech companies have become bloated with too many employees after years of expansion.
“It is a poorly kept secret in Silicon Valley that companies ranging from Google to Meta to Twitter to Uber could achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people,” he said.
Mr. Gerstner also recommended that the company dial back its investment in the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg has touted as the company’s future and said would require more than $10 billion in annual investment. Mr. Gerstner recommended the company limit that investment to $5 billion annually, calling Meta’s commitment “super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards.”
Despite the significant investment thus far, the company is behind on its goals for the metaverse.
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Just think. If a couple of floors of one of the buildings had been planned to accomodate more studio-like apartments, there could be zero-commute, super-green living right there. Total perfection from a mill-housing perspective!
https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2022/09/mill-housing-for-bgame-teachers.html
Posted by: Joe | October 27, 2022 at 12:13 PM
I think it was in WSJ the other day, but maybe somewhere else, I saw a photo of employees at Meta in "Burlington" CA per the caption
Posted by: HMB | October 27, 2022 at 05:40 PM
I biked out to the campus a couple times this week and it is QUIET. Then this came out Meta Platforms cut the prices of its virtual reality headsets in hopes of stirring demand for its VR hardware, as its bold bets on the metaverse have struggled to make a big splash.
Its flagship Meta Quest Pro will retail for $999, down 33% from its launch price of $1,499, and Quest 2 256 GB version for $429 from $499, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a broadcast on its social media platform Instagram on Friday.
The company called out lower Quest 2 sales as the reason behind a 17% drop in fourth-quarter revenue at its Reality Labs unit, which includes VR-related offerings.
Posted by: Handle Bard | March 04, 2023 at 12:24 AM
I can't say I'm surprised by the news as reported in today's WSJ who "reviewed internal reports". When I heard the Ray-Ban glasses pitch I was underwhelmed:
The Ray-Ban smart glasses launched by Meta Platforms almost two years ago have struggled to catch on with owners, many of whom appear to be using the devices infrequently, according to internal company data.
Less than 10% of the Ray-Ban Stories purchased since the product’s launch in September 2021 are used actively by purchasers, according to a company document from February reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Meta sold a total of 300,000 of the wearable devices through February, but the company only had about 27,000 monthly active users.
The device, an important part of Meta’s hardware strategy, allows users to take photos and listen to music with the frames of their glasses, among other features. It has experienced a 13% return rate, according to the document.
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I wonder what that means for employee counts on the Bayfront campus?
Posted by: Joe | August 03, 2023 at 02:27 PM
Sounds like an invention that wasn’t very interesting or innovative, probably clumsy and one surrounded by competing technologies that people already use almost instinctively.
Like the SPIN bike experience:
Wednesday night on The Ave was crowded and happy. SPIN bikes were parked in sullen flocks by Peets and the train station.
I walked over to an animated group of high school/college kids and asked them if they used the bikes. “No,” they answered, “Too expensive and hard to pedal.”
Plus, I think most people who want to ride a bike, well, already have a bike; kinda like people who would like to listen to music or take a photo already have a phone, etc… and don’t need to put on a pair of glasses.
Where the Meta product was merely poorly positioned technologically, SPIN bikes only exist because it seems virtuous
in its very awkwardness and expense.
Posted by: Peter Garrison | August 03, 2023 at 03:52 PM