former Warby Parker optician- ask me anything
Hey! New here and I've been browsing for about a week, enjoying the site so far. Seems you all aren't Warby fans- not that I blame you! I was there for about 3 years, started as part-time sales but became an Optician and member of the management team before leaving earlier this summer (I'm now at an independent eyeglasses provider and loving it, for the record).
I didn't sign an NDA so if you want the dirt.... ask me anything and I'll do my best to answer!
Welcome to optiBoard and I hope you will enjoy it....................................
Quote:
Originally Posted by will pockets
former Warby Parker optician- ask me anything
Hey! New here and I've been browsing for about a week, enjoying the site so far. Seems you all aren't Warby fans- not that I blame you! I was there for about 3 years, started as part-time sales but became an Optician and member of the management team before leaving earlier this summer (I'm now at an independent eyeglasses provider and loving it, for the record).
I didn't sign an NDA so if you want the dirt.... ask me anything and I'll do my best to answer!
Welcome to optiBoard and I hope you will enjoy it.........................................
I don't think anybody wants to know the dirt on optiBoard. However if we could learn that or why WP has the power to divert large masses of the public to purchase their glasses from them instead the conventional optometrist or optician that has been around for a hundred years would already be a step forward.
As you are in a now position to see the actual difference between the conventional established optical retailer, versus the new wave online opticals, their quality of products as well as their services, you should be able to make interesting comments on it.
What it might mean to independent ECPs is a stronger competitor .....................
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OscarMadison
Manufacturing of the eyeglasses and turnaround time. Made in the States or outsourced to Asia?
Sept. 6, 2017
Warby Parker is taking its expansion from online refraction and eyewear seller, and fledgling bricks-and-mortar retailer, to the next level: opening its own optical labs, according to reporting from Inc. magazine, which recently interviewed the company’s founders, Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa.
Earlier this year, Warby opened an optical lab–where lenses are cut, inserted into frames and shipped–in the Hudson Valley town of Sloatsburg, NY, a move that Inc. calls “a first step to taking over more of its manufacturing.”
It’s aggressively opening brick-and-mortar retail locations, and this year it will add 19 to its existing 50. In the past year, Gilboa says, such outlets brought in about half of Warby’s revenue, but in 2017, Warby is primarily a brick-and-mortar retailer.
Having its own optical lab means the company will control production and distribution, offering better-quality inspections and fewer shipping delays. Warby’s data team is analyzing additional lab locations.
What it might mean to independent ECPs is a stronger competitor that not only can deliver online refraction and eyewear shopping, but can deliver the product even faster, thanks to control of its own optical labs.
The question for ROB readers: Will this development put greater pressure on you to deliver products to patients faster, in addition to more inexpensively and virtually?
Click HERE to read the full report in Inc. magazine.
https://reviewob.com/warby-parker-now-optical-lab
RELATED ITEMS:ISSUES IN OPTOMETRY
Frames are mostly manufactured in China, with some from limited run collections......
Quote:
Originally Posted by
will pockets
Yes, that lab has been open for a while now, I mentioned it in an earlier post. Quality of jobs from that lab improved over the labs they were previously (and still also) used, but not as much as I would have hoped. It also didn't impact order time at all, Warbys promised delivery time has always been 7-10 business days for SV and 10-12 for progressive. Frames are mostly manufactured in China, with some from limited run collections being made in Japan or Italy. I think they are vaguely looking at American manufacturing, but I don't think any serious steps had been made towards that at least during my time there. However, that wouldn't necessarily be something I would have heard about, either.
.........................thank you "will pockets" for this informative answer.
How would you describe the quality of optical frames, made in China, as sold retail byWP at just below $ xxx including polycarbonate lenses ?
I have been around in the optical since the Japanese started to make frames, and for the 1st few years, they were not the best, but improved very fast, and the same happened happened to Chinese quality in optical frames. However their factory pricing is way below anything else on the market, imported into North America or Europe.
So when the oliner sells on the open market, they are making a decent, if not highly inflated markup, without any personalized service.