Warby Parker opens first physical store (2013)
Warby Parker, founded in 2010 as an online-only eyewear seller, opened its first permanent physical store in New York's SoHo neighborhood. The move let customers try on frames before buying, a step the brand had avoided in its early web-only model.
The store proved that an online-first brand could run profitable physical retail, and Warby Parker expanded to dozens of locations nationwide.
Direct-to-consumer brands began treating physical stores as a complementary channel rather than a competitor to e-commerce.
Like Wolf's Head's license application, Warby Parker's store showed an online retailer adding a regulated physical presence, with its own operational and permitting requirements.
