Warby Parker’s aggressive approach to expansion shows no signs of slowing down.
The former online-only eyewear company recently opened its 199th and 200th physical storefronts. Both new stores are in the New York City market: on Broadway in Morningside Heights and on Fifth in Union Square, respectively.
New York City now is home to about 5% of the company’s brick-and-mortar shops, including the original on Greene St. in Soho.
Just over a year ago, Warby Parker announced plans to increase its physical footprint to between 150-165 locations. It certainly overshot that mark in 2022.
However, A year after making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, the company has yet to make a profit and its stock price has endured a recent tumble. The company also is only months removed from slashing dozens of corporate jobs.
The company posted a net loss of $144.3 million in 2021. Its deficit for 2020 was $88.4 million.
Warby Parker CEO David Gilboa addressed stock price concerns in an October interview with CNBC.
“We’re in this for the long term, we’ve never really been too focused on where our stock price is,” Gilboa said, according to the article. “We’re more focused on what’s in our control, how we can create the best products and best experiences for our customers, how we can create impact. And if we can get those things right, then over time our share price will rebound.”
So it seems Warby Parker will continue its expansion at full speed.
And the company isn’t done with the NYC market.
According to a story in The Villager, a weekly publication covering Downtown Manhattan, Warby Parker will open a store in 2023 across the street from the American Museum of Natural History. This location reportedly will be dubbed the “Warby Parker Museum of the Blue-Footed Booby” in reference to the company’s unofficial mascot.