Warby Parker Opens Bethesda Store May 6

BETHESDA, MD — Online high-end eyeglass seller Warby Parker will open a showroom on Bethesda Row this month, making it the fourth location in the Washington, DC, area and the second Maryland store. The company already opened its first area store in Georgetown in 2015 and has since opened locations in Shaw and at Tysons Corner.

The Warby Parker Bethesda Row store will open at 4821 Bethesda Ave. on Saturday, May 6. Store hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

In a news release, the company describes the new store as sporting "design details reminiscent of a classic library. Think: suspended globe lighting, marble-topped tables, colorful displays of books, and comfy leather seating, plus our full collection of eyeglasses and sunglasses on walnut shelving. (We’ve always thought that shopping for glasses should feel like browsing at a library: quick, easy, and especially fun to do with a friend in tow.)"

An extra touch behind the marble Reference Desk — a one-stop shop for styling advice, order pickups, frame adjustments, and more for customers — is an original mural by French illustration duo Atelier Bingo (a.k.a. Maxime Prou and Adèle Favreau).

"We love the playful spirit of their work and their way with color, and we’re thrilled to work with them for the first time on our new Bethesda home," the business says.

For a limited time, the shop will have a Bethesda-exclusive pair of sunglasses on hand: Durand in Striped Sassafras with Flash Mirrored Pacific Blue lenses. It’s a wide-fitting frame that exudes unstudied cool.

Customers can check out with in-house advisors on tablets using a point-of-sale system that Warby Parker built called Point of Everything, a reference to Maryland native Edgar Allen Poe, and opticians are available to make adjustments.

Prescription glasses are shipped within days, while sunglasses and glasses with non-prescription lenses are available for immediate takeaway.

If you have trouble deciding on frames, advisors can send a digital overview of the styles you tried on during your visit, or any measurements they may have taken, using a custom-built app within P.O.E. called Bookmark.

"We believe that buying glasses should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket," says the firm. "We also believe that everyone has the right to see."

Toward that belief, for every pair of glasses and sunglasses sold, a pair is distributed to someone in need through Warby Parker's Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program.

»Image of Bethesda storefront and photo of Baltimore Warby Parker location both courtesy of Warby Parker