Meta has announced that it has signed a 10-year deal with Vornado Realty Trust for its Meta Lab New York flagship location at 679 Fifth Avenue. The lease agreement for Meta Lab New York occupies the five-level, 15,000-square-foot town house building adjacent to the bottom of the St. Regis Hotel.
Notably, the store is an experiential space in an effort for Meta to redefine the retail experience. On display is Reality Labs hardware with Meta’s artificial intelligence glasses wearables from Oakley and Ray-Ban and virtual reality headsets throughout.
In an exclusive interview with WWD, Matt Jacobson, vice president and creative director of wearables at Meta, shared that the initial strategy was to test the waters, then later sign long-term leases. Meta was “pleasantly surprised” that the New York pop-up has received heavy foot traffic, with anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 people a day. Jacobson also attributes the “art museum-like” environment to the format’s success.
697 Fifth Avenue
Dorothy Hong
“Placing our flagship alongside the brands that help define culture will distinguish Meta Lab from traditional consumer electronics retail. [Our retail location has] impressive company on either side of us. We’re right in the middle of it. There are about 32 million people a year who walk past this intersection of 55th and Fifth — I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. But this space has been great and we feel blessed that we got it.”
The store’s concept is a revolving door of themes — a new one at the beginning of summer will be brought in. Currently, the city’s history of skate culture is the main theme, with prompts for testing its AI glasses woven throughout, and the company tapped a multitude of local brands and creatives to bring the rich counterculture to the space.
Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley AI glasses on display.
Dorothy Hong
Zoo York created an archival wall and timeline from the 1960s until today through graffiti, film footage, artworks and more. An interactive gallery on New York’s skate culture from Evan Mock features immersive stories and personal memories via Meta glasses. A multidimensional mural and contemporary art from pro skater Zered Bassett’s series “Paper Skaters” encapsulates the motion and spirit of skate culture along with gear and ephemera from Rookie Skateboards, a woman-founded company that has been a leader in creating an inclusive skate space since 1996.
The space also provides free drinks from Buddies Coffee Roasters, founded by former pro skaters Taylor Nawrocki and Rachel Nieves. Jacobson said the Meta “wants you to come and hang out. We want you to be onboarded [with AI and VR] with our classes. We also do a lot of community programming in the space.”
“As evidenced by Meta Lab’s immediate and tremendous success during its introductory pop-up at this location, Fifth Avenue remains one of the most attractive retail corridors in the world for today’s most innovative and iconic brands,” said Glen Weiss, executive vice president and co-head of real estate at Vornado. “We are thrilled to further extend our long-standing relationship with Meta and applaud their permanent entry into New York City’s retail landscape.”
Evan Mock’s interactive gallery.
Dorothy Hong
This is the first flagship location for Meta in Manhattan, following the first Meta Lab flagship in Los Angeles’ 20,000-square-foot space last year. The L.A. location, similar to the New York location that opened in November 2025, was initially a pop-up that was converted to a full-time store. Meta Lab opened ephemeral boutique locations with Honolulu and Las Vegas at the Wynn last year — and more store openings are slated for the year ahead. The company also operates a retail location in Burlingame, Calif.
“We want to partner with great people in the community and make sure that we feel authentic to New York,” continued Jacobson. “That vibe is going to feel different than what we’re doing in L.A. or Honolulu or our future stores that we’re opening. We plan to open eight to 10 stores in the next year.”
As Facebook’s employee number eight, Jacobson has been with the company since 2005. He said that Meta has been thinking about retail for a while and what that means for the company. Given its new footing in the retail space, unlike other tech companies such as Apple, which already has an established brand DNA with its retail spaces, Meta isn’t as tied down and is testing out different size formats. The themes stay consistent across stores, but they’re tailored for each market.
Meta Lab’s second floor space with a coffee bar and customization shop.
Dorothy Hong
“We can’t out-Apple Apple,” said Jacobson. “Apple’s a real efficiency machine and they’ve had stores for 21 years. We’re pretty new to this. When you’re building it from the beginning, we don’t have a legacy look and feel that we need to stay consistent with. Our goal is for these stores to feel much more residential than they feel commercial.”
Given Jacobson’s job, he’s often traveling the world — in particular, he pointed to his time spent in Japan and how the Japanese experiential retail experience is how they maintain relevancy. He said Meta looked around the world to pick up the best formats and experiences to inform their overall retail building and expansions.
“We’ve always been a company that’s been based around community and areas of interest and creativity and self-expression. That’s what this space is really all about,” concluded Jacobson.
