When Warby Parker started selling eyeglasses online in 2010, the last thing its founders wanted was a lot of retail space.
Warby Parker’s business plan was to cut out the middlemen and sell directly to customers.
That included avoiding landlords and their demands for long, expensive leases.
Selling online was the cheapest way to reach as many customers as possible, as quickly as possible.
And the founders were full-time business-school students, leery of borrowing money to build out shops.