New York City-based eyewear retailer Warby Parker will open its second Canadian store later this year in the new expansion wing of Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Warby Parker’s first location opened in August of this year at 684 Queen Street West in Toronto.
Warby Parker is an innovative, value-priced prescription eyewear retailer that was founded in 2010 as a pure play online retailer. Having since expanded into brick-and-mortar, Warby Parker designs its glasses in-house and sells directly to customers, with prices that are generally lower than regular optical stores.
(Toronto Queen Street W. store, photos by Warby Parker)
The Yorkdale store will be one of only a handful of enclosed mall locations for Warby Parker, which typically locates on urban street fronts. Warby Parker currently operates 38 locations in the United States, according to its website, and the retailer is expanding quickly as it negotiates leases and announces new stores.
Yorkdale’s 300,000 square foot, $331 million expansion wing opens next week, anchored by a 199,000 square foot Nordstrom store. On Monday we’ll provide an update on the new wing, including photos and a discussion of new retailers that will include Canada Goose’s first location in the world, Sandro/Maje’s first freestanding Canadian locations, and other highly anticipated retailers such as Uniqlo (opening Thursday, Oct. 20), Muji (Canada’s largest to date), Mackage, Nadège, Strellson, Wolford and others. On Tuesday we’ll take you on a tour inside of Yorkdale’s new Nordstrom store, which will feature a variety of designers and shop-in-store luxury boutiques unavailable at the downtown CF Eaton Centre Nordstrom flagship, which opened last month. Yorkdale’s Nordstrom officially opens to the public on Friday, October 21 and there are still tickets available for its massive in-store charity gala on Wednesday, October 19: nordstromrsvp.com/Toronto.
Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: October 14, 2016
