Image Courtesy of Target
March 5, 2025
Is Warby Parker’s Target Partnership a Clear Vision for Growth?
Target revealed plans to open “Warby Parker at Target” shops in five Target locations during the second half of the year.
The shop-in-shops will “offer products and services — including glasses, sunglasses, contacts, eye exams and vision tests — that are consistent with the eyewear brand’s current omnichannel experience,” Target and Warby Parker said in a press release. Warby Parker at Target will also be “discoverable” on Target’s website.
The new partnership complements the expanding Target Optical business, which is offered at over 500 of Target’s nearly 2,000 stores. The Warby Parker shops will open in locations without existing Target Optical offerings and be staffed by Warby Parker employees. Prices for eyeglasses, including prescription lenses, start at $95.
“Warby Parker at Target reflects both brands’ commitment to style, affordability, quality and convenience,” said Christina Hennington, EVP and chief strategy and growth officer at Target. “As we test and learn with this new partnership — bringing Warby Parker’s expertise into select stores — we’re enticing new consumers to discover more of Target.”
Target Eyes a Strong Traffic Driver
Target has partnered on more in-store shops than its bigger competitor Walmart, including ones with CVS, Ulta Beauty, Apple, and Disney. Optical departments have become an increasingly reliable way to drive foot traffic to physical stores, as the need for in-person eye exams creates a barrier to Amazon’s entry into the prescription eyeglass market.
Costco in recent quarters has called out optical as an outperforming category. Gary Millerchip, EVP and CFO, remarked on Costco’s fourth-quarter earnings call last year that “more members have taken advantage of the exceptional values in brand name frames and sunglasses.”
Walmart last year rolled out a virtual online try-on tool while noting that its 3,000 Vision Centers have been upgraded with expanded eyewear offerings, “elevated storefronts,” and higher pay for opticians.
Warby Parker Hopes To Expand Customer Reach
Warby Parker, once an online-only retailer, ended 2024 with 276 locations, opening 41 stores last year with plans to open 45 — including the five initial Target shop-in-shops — in 2025 with a continued focus on suburban expansion. The Target partnership will extend Warby Parker’s reach, marking the first time its wares will be available outside its own stores and website.
“We know many of our customers already shop at Target for their everyday needs, and the shop-in-shop format provides an opportunity to introduce Warby Parker to even more customers who may not have engaged with us before while maintaining the exceptional customer experience and strong branding Warby Parker is known for,” said Neil Blumenthal, Warby Parker’s co-founder and co-CEO, last week on the retailer’s fourth-quarter call.
He added, “We view this as a longer-term tailwind to our business and a valuable opportunity to test and learn as we explore new ways to expand reach and accessibility while partnering with a best-in-class retailer like Target.
Discussion Questions
Is the opening of Warby Parker in-store shops inside Target a “win, win,” or does one retailer likely see a bigger benefit?
What are the upsides and downsides for both retailers?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Cathy Hotka
Principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates
Georganne Bender
Principal, KIZER & BENDER Speaking
Jeff Sward
Founding Partner, Merchandising Metrics
Recent Discussions
More Discussions
How Can Retailers Crack the Gen Z ‘Riddle’?
Gen Z is becoming an increasingly important consumer demographic, but an elusive one to map. How…Does Bath & Body Works’ Scented Holiday Campaign Pass the Sniff Test?
Bath & Body Works is kicking off a new campaign with scent being at the fore…Which Tech Will Solve In-Store Inventory Woes?
Three major tech lineups are looking to solve retail inventory problems. Which is most suited?
This is a good partnership and the thinking behind it is more like the Target of old. But it does not fix the issues with the core business and as a nice area it will not move the dial all that much.
Warby Parker will help draw the cheap chic Target customer of old. It could also help keep customers in the store for a longer period of time.
Target’s partnership with Warby Parker proves once again that online retailers need physical locations to reach consumers.
At first I thought, why? Target already has optical shops that offer a nice selection of frames and services, but Warby Parker shops in Target stores without optical shops does make sense. Being staffed by Warby Parker associates keeps it authentic.
And I have to imagine this is a good leverage tool for Target to use with Luxxotica, who operates most of the in-store stores now. That company is also Pearle Vision, LensCrafters, eyeMed insurance, and the biggest eyeglass frame manufacturer – a vertically integrated company like Standard Oil of old. Arguably the single company most responsible for keeping the price of vision correction so damned high.
Glasses are unbelievably expensive!
I’m not sure how you’d go about evaulating who get’s “more” out of this, and I don’t really see the point of such a question anyway: both parties stand to benefit; the only real issue is that with any exclusive tie-up: “might more have been gained by partnering with someone else?” I’ll leave that question for another day.
Target’s extensive foot traffic will help Warby Parker increase its customer base and brand visibility.
The partnership aligns with Warby Parker’s objective of blending online and offline shopping experiences, allowing it to reach customers who prefer in-person shopping.
By enhancing its product offerings and appealing to fashion-conscious, tech-savvy shoppers, Target benefits from this collaboration, although it must ensure that it doesn’t overshadow its existing eyewear department.
This is a great partnership for Warby Parker. They are more physical retail at a company with lots of overlap between core customers. This will be a win for them. This will also be a nice play for Target, but I doubt it will have a big impact on overall store sales.
Sounds like a great partnership to me. Today’s department store has the opportunity to serve a large swath of the customers shopping needs. I remember when banks and dry cleaners started showing up in grocery stores. I thought, “Of course! Establish a foothold for your business in the highest foot traffic location as possible.” Win/win for both parties. I suspect more so for Warby Parker than Target.
I like it. Warby Parker has already established credibility in the eyeglass sector and finding them in a Target store may prove to be a pleasant and convenient surprise to Target’s typical customers. The arrangement gives Warby Parker room for growth and Target a foot traffic draw.
I love this partnership. Eyewear is such a personal thing. And not everyone wants to deal with shipping and returns. It’s a great way for Warby Parker to expand their footprint and reach. But also offers Target an entry into a new category that could be supported by additional in store services (eye exams) if it decided to lean into health and wellness but with an offering that would differentiate it from similar Walmart services.
The Warby Parker-Target partnership has potential, but its success will depend on execution. Warby Parker gains access to Target’s massive customer base but the real opportunity lies in maintaining its unique brand experience in a big-box setting.
For Target, the upside goes beyond foot traffic. If they position this as part of a broader health and wellness strategy, they could create a more compelling destination experience.
The challenge for both? Differentiation. With Target Optical already in place, they need to position Warby Parker as a premium, design-led alternative.
A smart approach would be co-branded experiences exclusive collections, personalized styling, or loyalty program tie-ins. That’s how you turn a shop-in-shop into a real growth driver.
It wasn’t that long ago that Harrison Group’s research told us Target was the #1 store for high net worth women. Why? Because they buy soap too.
This adds ‘cool’ to Target, and traffic to Warby Parker. Nice win.