Warby Parker is an American brand of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses founded in 2010. Warby Parker primarily sells products online, but also has a limited number of physical retail showrooms in the United States and Canada.
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History
The company was founded in 2010 in Philadelphia by Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider, and is headquartered in New York City. The name "Warby Parker" derives from two characters that appear in a journal by author Jack Kerouac. The company's official corporate name is JAND Inc. and "Warby Parker" is the company's trade name.
The company was started in the Venture Initiation Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where the founders all studied. The company received $2,500 seed investment through the program and launched in February 2010. Shortly after launching, the company was covered by Vogue.com. In May 2011, Warby Parker raised its first round of funding totaling $2.5 million. In September 2011, the company raised a Series A round of $12.5 million. In Fall 2012, it raised a $37 million Series B round, with an additional $4 million announced in February 2013 with noted investors American Express and Mickey Drexler. In 2011, Warby Parker shipped more than 100,000 pairs of glasses and had 60 employees. By the end of 2012, the company grew to around 100 employees. As of April 2015, the company was valued at $1.2 billion.
Retail model
The company primarily sells eyewear online and through its New York City headquarters. It also maintains a limited number of showrooms in boutiques elsewhere in the United States. Warby Parker's "Home-Try-On program" allows customers to choose five frames from the website, which they receive to try on at home for five days, free of charge. Customers can also upload a photo and try on frames virtually.
As of 2016, Warby Parker operates around 30 locations in 16 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., along with two stores in Toronto. Following the opening of its retail stores, the company announced the company's intention to build its own point of sale (POS) system. One feature planned for the system is to charge the customer when their product is shipped, instead of when it is first ordered in-store.
Products
Warby Parker designs glasses in-house and sells directly to customers. As of 2012, frames typically cost around $95.
The company's frames have been praised by ELLE, Esquire, Vogue, GQ, and others.
In addition to eyeglasses and sunglasses, Warby Parker sells monocles, which are available with prescription lenses.
Donation program
Warby Parker uses a "buy one, give one" model, where for each pair of glasses purchased, the company pays for the production of another pair of eyeglasses for the non-profit organization VisionSpring. VisionSpring in turn sells the glasses to consumers or companies in developing countries as a way to encourage entrepreneurship. According to the Christian Science Monitor, this model provides positive marketing for the company, and the use of VisionSpring as an intermediary company may address some of the criticisms that have been leveled at Toms Shoes, which uses a similar model. In June 2014, Warby Parker announced that it had distributed 1,000,000 pairs of eyeglasses to people in need. The company also claims to be 100% carbon neutral.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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