The digital-first eyewear retailer is reportedly planning on opening hundreds of new locations to drive its next phase of growth.
Just a month after the brand confidently filed for an initial public offering, Warby Parker has said that it intends to open around three dozen physical locations this year alone. This would bring the brand’s store fleet up to 160 and would just be the start of a much more significant bricks-and-mortar expansion.
Founded in 2010, growth was fast in the company’s first few years but has slowed down as newer digital brands have continued to grow and older, more traditional retailers have improved their e-commerce offering. Their commitment to opening new stores across the country is a move that Warby Parker hope will unlock the next stage of its growth.
Co-CEO, Neil Blumenthal, commented: “There’s still room for us to open hundreds of stores. When we look at our competitors – the large public optical retailers – they all have well over a thousand locations across the US. At the end of the day, the vast majority of Americans need glasses and prefer to buy those in person.”
