Eyewear store brings style to The Summit

Coquette+New+Orleans

Coquette New Orleans

Alex Brinkhorst

Lexington’s up-and-coming shopping and residential community The Summit at Fritz Farm will be home to the first Warby Parker store in Kentucky. 

Warby Parker, a fast-growing eyewear store that was originally an Ecommerce store, will have its grand opening Saturday, July 22. It’s now expanded to 56 brick-and-mortar stores in the United States and two in Canada, according to its website.

Warby Parker communications team member Ruthie Ben-Zvi said some unique Lexingtonian aspects have been added to the store, including the mural “Reading Glasses,” by native Lexington artist Ben Wiseman, whose work has been featured on Time, Newsweek and Variety. The mural is visible from both the street and the interior of the shop.

“We’re really excited specifically about The Summit at Fritz Farm because of how lively it is, how walkable it is and by how much is happening here,” Ben-Zvi said.

Warby Parker will be re-releasing a pair of sunglasses with a Whiskey Tortoise pattern, now exclusive to The Summit location.

Warby Parker also holds a collection of books that are for sale along with the eyewear. Two of the selections are Lexington based, from Institute 193, a local art organization.

The books are “40/40: 40 Years 40 Portraits” by Guy Mendes and “Institute 193: Volume One” by Philip March Jones and Chase Martin.

 “We couldn’t be happier to open our first location in the Bluegrass State. The Summit at Fritz Farm is a new, eclectic place to shop, eat, walk and explore. We couldn’t be more excited to help make it a destination,” company co-founder and co-CEO Neil Blumenthal said in a statement.

The Saturday grand opening will include cornhole, live music and frozen custard from Shake Shack, which is also located at The Summit. The event lasts from 5 to 8 p.m. and is open to the public.