We hear a lot about how inflation has increased prices on everything from housing and health care to clothing and cars.
It started ticking up in 2021 and hasn’t really stopped. It might have slowed a bit since its 2022 high, but we’re all paying more for a long list of things.
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Now the news about tariffs is making consumers nervous, as they wonder what else they’re going to have to trim from their budgets.
Spending that’s considered “discretionary,” like eating at restaurants, has already taken a big hit.
There is some fear that President Trump’s policies could lead the country into a true recession, which is motivating consumers to look for the best deals on things they can’t live without. Like eyeglasses.
Image source: Warby Parker
It’s not like eyeglasses are a luxury item — or at least they shouldn’t be. Yet the average cost of a pair of prescription glasses is $350 for people who don’t have insurance.
Warby Parker pioneered direct-to-consumer eyeglasses
Even when the economy is booming, that’s a lot to spend on a pair of glasses. So when Warby Parker launched in 2010, offering stylish prescription eyeware starting at $95, people paid attention.
The company designed a direct-to-consumer model that allowed customers to have a sample set of glasses sent to their homes to try on in private so they could then order the ones they liked best. Warby Parker also pioneered a virtual try-on technology and committed to giving away a pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair of glasses sold.
Customers were hooked.
Even though “disruptive” is an overused word used to describe companies that aren’t really changing much, it can be legitimately assigned to a handful.
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Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, and Netflix definitely make the list.
And when it comes to the retail sector, Warby Parker deserves a spot.
Warby Parker is finally profitable
Now Warby Parker is officially profitable.
It has taken some time to get there; the company went public in 2021, but at its most recent earnings call, Co-founder and Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal announced first-quarter earnings that included a $3.5 million net profit with earnings per share of $0.03.
Last year, the company posted a loss of around $2.7 million during the same period.
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Warby Parker opened 11 new stores during Q1 and now operates 287 stores across the U.S. and Canada with plans to open another 45 during its current fiscal year.
The new stores include shops inside select Target stores, according to a Target announcement. The collabs will be located in:
- Willowbrook, Illinois
- Bloomington, Minnesota
- Brick, New Jersey
- Columbus, Ohio
- Exton, Pennsylvania
These shop-in-shops will be staffed by Warby Parker employees and are scheduled to open in the second half of 2025.
More on retail:
- Walmart store closing, auctioning off laptops and flat screen TVs
- Home Depot CEO sounds the alarm on a growing problem
- Famous restaurant files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
After seven consecutive quarters of accelerating active customer growth, leadership sees plenty more room for expansion, seeing potential for 900 locations both in additional Target locations and standalone stores.
“We’re going to learn a lot in the first five stores, and that will help us grow going forward,” Blumenthal told analysts on the company’s earnings call. “We view this as complementary to our standalone store growth.”
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