Warby Parker Inc.

Is Warby Parker publicly traded?

Yes. Warby Parker Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker WRBY. It listed directly on September 29, 2021, without a traditional IPO.

Who owns Warby Parker?

Public shareholders own most of the economic interest, while co-founders retain voting control through ten-vote Class B shares. Co-CEOs Neil Blumenthal and David Gilboa direct the company.

Is Warby Parker profitable?

Yes, as of fiscal 2025. The company reported net income of $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, its first full year of positive net income, on revenue of $871.9 million.

Where is Warby Parker headquartered?

The company is headquartered at 233 Spring Street in New York City, having been founded in Philadelphia.

How many Warby Parker stores are there?

Warby Parker ended 2025 with 323 stores after opening 47 net new locations during the year, and it continues to add roughly 40 to 50 stores annually.

Does Warby Parker own other brands?

No. Warby Parker is a single-brand company. It designs and sells its own frames and the Scout contact lens line under the Warby Parker name.

The company began as a 2008 Wharton School venture among four students frustrated with eyewear pricing. Neil Blumenthal brought direct experience: he had spent years at VisionSpring, a nonprofit distributing glasses in developing countries, and understood both manufacturing costs and the industry's markup structure.

Launching in February 2010, the company sold exclusively online and priced complete prescription glasses at $95. Media coverage triggered immediate sellouts. Its Home Try-On program, which mailed customers five frames to test free, became the operational signature that made online prescription eyewear viable.

Retail proved unexpectedly important. What began as showroom experiments became a permanent store network starting in New York in 2013, and the company discovered stores produced returns far exceeding projections. Omnichannel economics, where stores acquire customers who also buy online, reshaped its growth plan.

Successive venture rounds through Tiger Global, General Catalyst, T. Rowe Price, and others valued the company at roughly $3 billion by 2020. Along the way it insourced lens production with its own optical labs, expanded into eye exams, contact lenses, and telehealth prescription renewal.

Warby Parker executed a direct NYSE listing on September 29, 2021, bypassing an IPO roadshow. The years after listing demanded a transition from growth spending to discipline, with the company steadily narrowing losses. Fiscal 2025 marked the turning point: $871.9 million revenue, up 13 percent, and $1.6 million net income, its first full profitable year. It ended 2025 with 323 stores and announced a $100 million share repurchase authorization, with 2026 guidance of $959 million to $976 million in revenue and plans to launch AI glasses.

The company's founding social commitment, the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program, has distributed more than 15 million glasses to people in need through partners including VisionSpring. This remains its most visible ethical claim and a core element of brand identity.

Warby Parker publishes supplier codes of conduct and describes factory auditing for its Asian manufacturing partners. It has expanded bio-based acetate and recycled material usage in frames and packaging, though it does not carry third-party certifications such as B Corp status.

Warby Parker ranked first on Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list in 2015 and has appeared repeatedly since. Time magazine recognized its products in best inventions coverage, and the company's stores have received American Institute of Architects design recognition.

The company is a frequent Harvard Business School and Wharton case study on direct-to-consumer retail disruption and has received workplace culture recognition from Built In NYC and comparable employer rankings.

The company's most substantive criticism centers on Buy a Pair, Give a Pair, with researchers and journalists questioning whether eyewear donation delivers measurable health impact relative to its marketing value. The company has defended the program while modifying elements of its giving model over time.

Warby Parker has faced website accessibility litigation alleging insufficient accommodation for visually impaired users, and standard retail workforce claims, none producing major adverse rulings. Post-IPO investor skepticism about profitability was the most persistent market criticism until the 2025 results.