CHERRY HILL – Warby Parker Inc., a fast-growing eyewear retailer trying to see its way to profitability, has opened its first store in South Jersey.

The Cherry Hill Mall site is one of 40 new shops planned this year, according to the New York-based firm.

"The location will offer eye exams and carry our full sun and optical eyewear offerings," the company said in a statement Wednesday. Shoppers also will find contact lenses from Warby Parker and others.

The store, which will hold its grand opening on Saturday, April 16, also includes artwork inspired by the Cooper River and Pennsauken Creek.

"Those organic shapes are complemented by abstract eyeglass shapes," the statement said.

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Warby Parker offers prescription glasses and contacts, as well as eye exams and vision tests.

Founded as an online business in 2010, it opened its first store three years later.

The company, which added 35 stores last year, currently has more than 165 shops across this country and in Canada. That includes three sites in and outside Philadelphia and six elsewhere in New Jersey.

Warby Parker claims a 1 percent share in the $160 billion eyewear market.

The firm last month reported a net loss of $144.3 million for 2021, up from a year-earlier deficit of $55.9 million.

Among other factors, it said the omicron variant hit at year-end, depressing traffic at a time customers traditionally seek to use flexible spending dollars. The omicron wave also caused about $15 million in lost sales at the start of 2022, the company added.

But it also noted a 21.5 percent increase in “active customers” and a 37.4 percent increase in net revenue, to $540.8 million, for 2021.

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

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