Popular eyewear brand Warby Parker coming to downtown St. Pete
/warby parker is headed to 1124 Central Avenue in the EDGE District | St Pete Rising
A popular eyewear brand is making its way to downtown St. Pete.
Warby Parker, known for its prescription glasses, sunglasses, contact lenses, and eye care services, will open its first St. Petersburg storefront at 1124 Central Avenue in the EDGE District.
The property is one of several acquired by Dallas-based investment firm 90Ten, which has spent $18.5 million in the EDGE District since December. Archer Group represented the 90Ten in the lease transaction.
The new store will occupy the space previously home to Bacon Bitch, which closed in 2024. The storefront was also the original home of Bodega’s juice bar before the Cuban eatery expanded a few doors down.
While an opening date has not yet been announced, Warby Parker is already hiring for several positions, including an optical manager, licensed optician, and additional retail roles.
Once open, the location is expected to offer comprehensive eye exams, prescription updates, and the company's full lineup of eyewear products.
warby parker’s storefront in tampa’s hyde park village | Hyde park village
The opening marks another expansion for the New York-founded retailer, which has steadily grown its presence across Tampa Bay over the last decade.
Warby Parker first entered the Tampa market in 2016 with a showroom inside Oxford Exchange, which has since closed.
The company later opened its first full-scale Tampa Bay store at International Plaza in 2019, followed by a Hyde Park Village location in 2022.
Founded in 2010 by four friends, Warby Parker launched as an online-only startup looking to challenge the traditional eyewear industry.
By designing frames in-house and selling directly to consumers, the company positioned itself as a lower-cost alternative to established eyewear brands.
The concept took off almost immediately. According to CNBC, the company exceeded its first-year sales goals within just three weeks of launching after receiving widespread media attention from national fashion publications.
Three years later, Warby Parker opened its first permanent brick-and-mortar store in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.
warby parker is known for its variety of stylish eyeglasses and sunglasses, as well as its Optometry services | Warby parker
Today, the company operates hundreds of locations throughout the United States and Canada alongside its e-commerce business.
In recent years, Warby Parker has also become known for embracing new technology.
Its mobile app allows customers to virtually try on glasses using their phone's camera, save prescription information, and reorder frames directly from the app.
The company is also preparing to enter the smart glasses market through a partnership with Samsung and Google.
The upcoming product line, marketed as Intelligent Eyewear, is expected to feature built-in speakers, microphones, cameras, and access to Google's Gemini AI assistant for navigation, questions, and other hands-free tasks.
The smart glasses are expected to launch this fall.
Warby Parker’s arrival adds to a growing roster of national retailers in the EDGE District, joining brands such as Sweetgreen, Pure Green, Solidcore, and Floyd’s 99 Barbershop. CorePower Yoga is also slated to open a location in the neighborhood later this year.
