NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE: WRBY) (the “Company”), a direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand focused on vision for all, today announced that more than 10 million pairs of glasses have been distributed through its Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. Launched at the Company’s founding as part of its commitment to increasing access to vision care for people around the world, the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program is simple: for every pair of Warby Parker glasses purchased, a pair of glasses is distributed to someone in need. This exciting milestone means that now more than 10 million people have the glasses they need to learn, work, and achieve better economic outcomes.
“We founded Warby Parker with a mission to inspire and impact the world with vision, purpose, and style. It’s hard to put into words how we feel knowing that now more than 10 million people globally have received a life-changing pair of glasses through our Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program,” said Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dave Gilboa. “Alleviating the problem of impaired vision has long been at the heart of what we do, and as our company continues to grow, we are inspired by the opportunities ahead to accelerate our impact.”
“Warby Parker’s mission is to provide vision for all—and we’re working to achieve this by reimagining everything that a company and industry can be,” added Co-Founder and Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal. “This milestone is a testament to our passionate employees, loyal customers, and committed partners and stakeholders. It’s amazing to see what we’ve been able to accomplish together, and we know this is still just the start.”
How The Buy A Pair, Give A Pair Program Works
To date, Warby Parker’s Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program has supported people in more than 50 countries around the world. Through its partnerships, the Company prioritizes communities with the most significant need around the world, many of which are extremely limited in their access to vision care. The two distribution models Warby Parker employs are:
Social Entrepreneurship: Empowering people to administer basic eye exams and sell glasses at affordable prices. The nonprofit social enterprise VisionSpring has been Warby Parker’s primary partner in this work, accelerating the uptake of eyeglasses by raising awareness about vision impairment, conducting vision screenings, and selling highly subsidized eyeglasses in low-income communities. We believe this model also has a multiplying effect of job creation that allows the beneficiaries to sustainably earn an income and care for their families. Over 50% of VisionSpring customers are getting glasses for the first time.
Direct Donation: Via cross-sector partnerships, directly giving vision care and glasses to those in need. For example, in 2015, Warby Parker created Pupils Project, a program that works with local organizations and government agencies to give free vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to schoolchildren. After starting the program in New York City, then launching in Baltimore and Philadelphia, the Company expanded Pupils Project in 2021 to bring vision services to more than 70 new U.S. school districts in cities across California, central and western Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. Warby Parker plans to distribute tens of thousands of pairs of glasses during the 2021-2022 school year alone.
Learn more about the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program at warbyparker.com/buy-a-pair-give-a-pair.1
The Power of Vision
The technology used to make a pair of glasses was invented hundreds of years ago, yet over 2.5 billion people still don’t have access to the glasses they need. According to VisionSpring, a pair of glasses can increase an individual's productivity by up to 32% and their monthly income by up to 20% in emerging and pre-emerging markets2. In September 2021, Johns Hopkins University completed a three-year clinical study3 as part of Vision for Baltimore (the Pupils Project program in Baltimore elementary and middle schools) that found the impact of a pair of glasses on a student’s education was equivalent to two to four months of additional schooling4, and four-to-six months for special education students.
Warby Parker Impact Foundation
To accelerate the work started by the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program, Warby Parker created the Warby Parker Impact Foundation in 2019. The Foundation’s mission is to advocate for wider access to vision services, educate communities on the importance of eye health, and provide people with the eye care they need to lead safe, happy, and productive lives. Learn more about the Warby Parker Impact Foundation at warbyparkerfoundation.org.
About Warby Parker
Warby Parker (NYSE: WRBY) was founded in 2010 with a mission to inspire and impact the world with vision, purpose, and style–without charging a premium for it. Headquartered in New York City, the co-founder-led lifestyle brand pioneers ideas, designs products, and develops technologies that help people see, from designer-quality prescription glasses (starting at $95) and contacts, to eye exams and vision tests available online and in more than 160 retail stores across the U.S. and Canada.
Warby Parker aims to demonstrate that businesses can scale while doing good in the world. Ultimately, the brand believes in vision for all, which is why for every pair of glasses or sunglasses sold, they distribute a pair to someone in need through their Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program.
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1 Due to the administrative processes associated with operating the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program, including the timing and coordination of the distribution of glasses, recognition of the number of pairs of glasses distributed should not be correlated with net revenue for any fiscal period.
2 https://visionspring.org/Files/Images/VisionSpring/Press%20Kit%20Downloads/2020-Feb-VS-One-Pager.pdf
3 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/article-abstract/2783867
4 https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/09/09/glasses-boost-student-performance-vision-for-baltimore/
