It’s official: Warby Parker is a publicly traded company.
The eyewear retailer (NYSE: WRBY) launched its direct offering on Wednesday, opening at $54.05 per share and closing at $54.49. It now has a market value of $6.1 billion, Bloomberg reports.
Warby Parker’s approach to brick-and-mortar makes for an interesting case study, said Jan Kniffen, CEO of J. Rogers Kniffen WWE, told CNBC’s “The Exchange.” The company is reportedly charting 30 to 35 new stores for its new fiscal year, which would push its footprint to between 155 to 160 locations.
“When these guys started they were online and they were a fashion retailer,” he said. “Now they’re brick-and-mortar, and maybe they’re a healthcare company because they’re doing contacts, they’re doing eye exams, they’re grinding their own lenses. That’s a big change from 2010 to now.
“I find it very fascinating that a big chunk of the growth is going to be coming out of the brick-and-mortar side. And they intend to build a lot more stores, and they’re building them pretty fast, which tells you what we need to know, which is that everybody needs online and everybody needs brick-and-mortar and one supports the other.”
Among the major investors in Warby Parker are T. Rowe Price, Durable Capital and Tiger Global Management.
Read more at Bloomberg.