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Dave Gilboa
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After opening a corporate office in Nashville nearly a year and a half ago, New York City-based eyewear startup Warby Parker set its sights on bringing a retail store to town. Nashville marks the 19th brick-and-mortar for the brand, which began selling its glasses exclusively online in 2010.
While its e-commerce business still thrives, Warby Parker is working to establish a more physical presence in the retail industry.
Of the shift, cofounder Dave Gilboa explains, 'We really see physical retail as a meaningful driver of growth for our business and a way for us to give customers the opportunity to choose how they engage with us.”
Tucked within Edgehill Village, Warby Parker's new Nashville store is effortlessly coolmuch like the glasses that line its walls. The aesthetic is sleek, bright, and library-inspired (an ode to the brand's name, Warby from Warby Pepper and Parker from Zagg Parker, two characters in a Jack Kerouac journal), with brass lamps, leather benches, and walnut shelving throughout. There's a stained glass window by Nashville-based Hendricks Stained Glass, and an upper mezzanine offers ample seating space. In addition to eyewear (the space boasts full sun and optical collections), the store sells a curated selection of books, including Warby Parker's own 50 Ways to Lose Your Glasses.
Warby Parker frames start at $95including prescription lenses. What's more, for every pair of glasses purchased, a pair is distributed to someone in need through the company's 'Buy a Pair, Give a Pair” program. Each month, Warby Parker tallies up the number of glasses it's sold and makes a donation to cover the cost of producing that same number of glasses. Nonprofit partners like VisionSpring then train men and women in developing countries to sell those glasses, creating a sustainable, market-based solution to alleviate impaired vision and increase productivity around the world.
'It's incredible to see the impact we've been able to have,” Gilboa says. More than one million pairs of glasses have been distributed since Warby Parker's inception, and that number continues to climb.
1207 Villa Pl., 615-866-6919; warbyparker.com