Claire Harper Claire Harper | January 3, 2022 | Lifestyle, Feature, Features, Featured,
Cult-favorite prescription glasses brand Warby Parker (@warbyparker) brings its chic lenses to PCM. Here, Sandy Gilsenan, SVP of retail, tells us more.
Tell me about the decision to expand Warby Parker’s Atlanta footprint.
Atlanta has always been special to us at Warby Parker—one of our first-ever retail stores opened in Buckhead (it was our seventh retail store, and we now have over 150). It’s a community that we’ve enjoyed growing with over the years, so much so that we expanded to both Westside Provisions District and Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody (where we now offer eye exams too!). We see our Ponce City Market opening as an opportunity to make it even easier and more convenient for our Atlanta customers to access affordable vision care with us.
Why Ponce City Market specifically?
Ponce City Market is a beloved part of the city and a convenient destination for a lot of our Atlanta customers, so it was a natural choice. Customers have been asking for quite some time if we would ever open up at Ponce City Market, as it’s a place where they’re already spending time.
From top: Warby Parker Blakeley frame; Dawson frame; Malik frame.
Does the new location offer any exclusives or exclusive items?
As with all of our retail stores, our Ponce City Market location exclusively carries some fun treats you can’t find online, including our kids collection and our retrospective art book, The Alphabet of ART at Warby Parker. Our art book is extra special to us as the arts have been core to Warby Parker, and since founding in 2010, our team has commissioned hundreds of original work by artists from all over the world. From murals that span city blocks to dazzling still lifes, this is a singular collection from some of today’s most talented illustrators, painters, printmakers and designers. Fittingly, we have custom artwork from local Atlanta animator and illustrator Sam Bass exclusively at our Ponce City Market location. His original work for the store features a cast of characters between flowering dogwood trees and belted kingfisher birds, which are commonly found across Georgia.
What’s new for WP this season?
We have lots of exciting fall and winter newness in store. Our winter 2021 collection features a treasure trove of new styles and refashioned favorites in bold shapes and rich-as-can-be colors. We also offer an array of accessories such as our colorful eyewear cases made to fit one, two or three pairs of glasses or sunglasses that make popular gifts, including the all-new single Parker pouch in Dark Moss—a moody green hue perfect for the winter months. Just for the holiday season, all frames come in charming, ready-to-gift packaging designed by Los Angeles-based artist and creative director Kenesha Sneed. It makes unboxing even more of a treat (even if you’re just shopping for yourself!).
Photography by: courtesy of Warby Parker