Headlines

Warby Parker Plans 100 Stores

Aims to increase store footprint by end of year

Published

7 years ago

February 19, 2018

kmpeyton

Austin, Texas-based eyewear brand Warby Parker has stated its plans to have 100 U.S. stores in operation by the end of the year. The decision to open more stores to complement online storefronts represents a break from many retailers’ downsizing strategies today.

Warby Parker, founded in 2010, currently operates 64 stores across the country, according to CNBC. It opened its first store in New York in 2013, and since, the brand has become known for its willingness to experiment with various physical storefront formats, including pop-up shops and traveling storefronts (in school buses).

"We think the presentation by retail experts of 'either [online] or [offline] is a false choice," Warby Parker CEO Neil Blumenthal told CNBC. "It really is the intersection of the two … And we are trying to approach retail expansion in a very deliberate manner, where we are testing and learning."

The company has not stated which formats its new stores will take on or in which markets.

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