🕶 Why Meta is opening a store

PLUS: Luxury car washes, explained. [The Hustle] Tesla stock dipped 12%+ Tuesday, its worst single-day performance since September 2020, as investors mull over Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. Accounting for the drop, Twitter will make up roughly ⅙ of Musk’s net worth — and who knows how much of his time. In today’s email: - Meta store: Why Meta is opening an in-person shop. - Clean chart: The surprising afterlife of used hotel soap. - Luxury car washes: Why they offer everything from drinks to hookah. - Around the web: Old calendars, browser extensions for movie-watching, barnyard friendships, and more cool internet finds. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s podcast]( to hear Zack, Rob, and Mark go deep on Musk’s Twitter purchase — including the impact of billionaires owning the internet, Twitter product changes, how Musk defines free speech, and more. The big idea [Mark Zuckerberg]( Meta’s IRL store for the not-IRL metaverse Meta’s 1st shop opens on its Burlingame, California, campus on May 9. It’s called the [Meta Store]( — about as predictable a name as [Boilprawn Shack](, a shack in “Elden Ring” where a guy boils prawns. It’s fairly small at ~1.5k square feet, but allows shoppers to try products, including: - The Meta Quest 2 VR headset - Ray-Ban Stories, Meta’s AR glasses - Portal, Meta’s smart video calling device Why a brick-and-mortar store? Zuck wants the metaverse to be [huge](, but that’s a hard sell when facing off against, you know, the real world. One survey [found]( 48% of teens are either unsure or uninterested in the metaverse, while another found just [16%]( of Americans can correctly describe it. The Meta Store will try to engage the meta-ambivalent through a hands-on, curated experience. That means sampling VR experiences like rhythm game “Beat Saber” or fitness app “Supernatural,” trying on AR glasses in various colors and styles, and testing Portal calls. Shoppers will also get a 30-second clip of them trying VR in front of an LED screen that displays what they see in their headsets — which they could, naturally, share on social media. Experiential is in, even for Big Tech Online shopping boomed during the pandemic, but retailers can still draw customers in with experiences they can only have in-store. It’s a strategy that’s been embraced by [toy shops](, [D2C brands](, and early adopter Apple. Apple launched its retail operation in 2001, with Steve Jobs [touting]( how they wouldn’t just talk “megahertz and megabytes,” but show people what “they can actually do with a computer.” Today, the company thinks of its stores as [“town squares”]( where people receive peak customer service and take hands-on classes. Following suit… [ … Google’s 1st shop]( in NYC has simulated living rooms for trying Nest devices, and rooms for testing its Pixel smartphone camera’s low-light options. Google recently announced it’s opening a [2nd store](, also in NYC. If Meta’s test store can successfully show customers why they want to enter the metaverse and what they can do there, it won’t be surprising if we see more. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Meta%E2%80%99s+IRL+store+for+the+not-IRL+metaverse%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04272022-Meta-store%3Futm_campaign%3DMeta%2BIRL%2Bstore%26utm_content%3D04272022-Meta-store%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS New low: The tech-heavy Nasdaq index [dropped]( ~4% to a 52-week low as investors grew fearful of an economic slowdown. The drop precedes several tech earnings calls this week, including Meta, Amazon, and Apple. Unhappy customer: Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the parent company of Forever 21, [sued]( 1-click payment startup Bolt on claims it never delivered on its technology promises, resulting in $150m in lost sales. Product lockdown: Twitter [locked]( its product through Friday to prevent unauthorized changes from employees in response to Elon Musk’s purchase of the company. Happy Hart: Kevin Hart’s media company, Hartbeat Productions, [raised]( $100m from private equity firm Abry Partners. The deal, which values the company at $650m+, follows similar celebrity-owned media raises from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Will Smith’s Westbrook Media. Boomer business deals: This Trends research report [dives]( into lucrative opportunities to serve the millions of retiring boomer business owners. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey — enjoy getting quick updates on what you care about? Take [20 seconds]( to personalize your Snippets. Pick your preferences👇 and we’ll send you more of what you love. Boom. [Personalize my Email →]( Chart [most commonly used hotel ammenities]( Zachary Crockett / The Hustle The surprising afterlife of used hotel soap Soaps are the single most-utilized amenity at hotel chains. But the tiny bars come with a big problem. While some of us smuggle home every bar of soap we can get our hands on, most guests leave behind sizable, half-used chunks. At scale, this is a big deal: - There are [~5m hotel rooms]( in the US alone. - Pre-pandemic, the average occupancy rate was [~66%](. - That means in normal times, hotels go through ~3.3m bars of soap every day. Every year, the hospitality industry generates an estimated [~440B pounds]( of solid waste — much of it soap and bottled amenities. That’s the equivalent weight of 2m blue whales. So what happens to all that leftover soap? Fourteen years ago, one man asked that very question. And the answer led him down a path that has since saved tens of thousands of lives all over the world. [Read the full story →]( Free Resource The Hustle’s founder started off by selling… … hot dogs. “Weiners as big as a baby’s arm,” as the legend goes. Before Sam Parr became the big shot podcast host who sold The Hustle, he was a sharp entrepreneur with a classic feel for bold branding. Some things never change. On this mashup episode of Entrepreneurs On Fire, host John Lee Dumas digs into [Sam’s mind and co-hosting a top-25 entrepreneurship podcast](. Inside this podcast episode: - How My First Million grew to millions of streams - Why fitness progress is so beneficial for entrepreneurs - A rundown of how money (and how much) can buy happiness - “Please do not eat the peanut butters with the palm oil” And a ton more. Tune in to this Entrepreneurs On Fire episode on Spotify. [The EOF x MFM episode →]( Meet Me at the Car Wash [car wash]( Luxury car washes, explained The car wash industry has come a long way since its humble beginnings. Commercial car washes became a thing in the US in [1914]( — 6 years after Ford’s [Model T]( hit the streets. The 1st car washes relied on humans manually pushing the car through the wash. That changed in 1946, when the 1st semiautomatic car wash opened in Detroit. Per The Wall Street Journal, car washes are entering a [new era]( defined by what customers can do while waiting for their car. Luxury car washes… … offer customers a wide range of amenities beyond waxing and sealing. Some examples include: - Auto Spa Bistro in Atlanta, which provides food, drinks, and a hookah lounge - Clean Ride Auto Spa in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which has fresh-brewed coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries - Prestige Car Wash & Gas in Boston, which [offers]( self-serve dog washing areas Then there’s the crown jewel — a car wash in Zurich with a 2nd-floor dance club. So why are car washes getting so fancy? A few reasons: - The cost to open a car wash has increased due to new technology and rising real estate prices, leading many owners to take funding from private equity companies. - Private equity-backed businesses are gravitating toward a subscription model, meaning independent owners need to find a way to differentiate. While one expert believes the “mixed model” can be successful, it has its risks. Building out extra amenities isn’t cheap, and there’s a good chance many customers won’t take advantage. For more: Check out Auto Spa Bistro’s [menu](, with car-themed items like The Beamer omelet, the Mini Cooper Brunch, and the Bugatti Burger. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Luxury+car+washes%2C+explained%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04272022-luxury-car-washes%3Futm_campaign%3DMeta%2BIRL%2Bstore%26utm_content%3D04272022-luxury-car-washes%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 🖱️ On this day: In 1981, the pricey Xerox Star workstation [debuted](. While ultimately a commercial failure, it did introduce one enduring concept to a consumer audience: the computer mouse. 📅 Haha: If you happen to find a really old calendar — such as a 1989 “Saved by the Bell” calendar — [this site]( will tell you when you can reuse it. 🎥 That’s cool: This [browser extension]( lets you watch Netflix films alongside the screenplay. ⚔️ That’s interesting: The [true history]( behind Robert Eggers’ new film, The Northman. 🐑 Aww: And now, [a cat]( and its lamb. Meme of the day [Meta store meme] Will legs be allowed in Zuck’s new store? (Source: [imgflip.com]() SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Stop keeping us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we’ll start to send some goodies as a thank you. [My First Million ebook]( Spread the news. Help us grow 🌱 [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, and [Rob Litterst](. 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