Photo credit: Barkow Photo for Warby Parker
NEW YORK—Following a plan it announced in mid-2016, Warby Parker has opened its first company-owned optical lab, a 34,000-square-foot facility in the Rockland County area of New York State.

The company announced the opening of the new lab in Sloatsburg, N.Y., via Twitter: “Today, we’re excited to announce an important company milestone: the opening of our first-ever fully owned optical lab in Sloatsburg, NY,” @WarbyParker tweeted on Wednesday Jan. 11. Sloatsburg is located about 40 miles northwest of New York City.

As VMail reported last year, the development plan for the new lab calls for the creation of up to 128 jobs over five years.

“Opening our first optical lab represents a significant milestone for both our customers and our team,” Warby Parker co-founder and co-chief executive officer David Gilboa said in a press release. “This is the next step in taking more control over our supply chain and will enable us to serve our customers in a faster, more personalized way.”

Warby Parker, which offers an assortment of designer prescription eyewear and sunglasses online and in brick-and-mortar stores, operates 46 retail locations in the U.S. and two in Canada, according to the company’s website.

The company invested roughly $15 million to construct the lab in Sloatsburg. “We designed the interior to look and feel like any other Warby Parker space, while maintaining the functional elements of a traditional optical lab with its advanced machinery and state of the art conveyor system,” added Neil Blumenthal, also a co-founder and co-CEO.

“We applied the same principles we do in our offices and our stores. While it’s our first foray into manufacturing, our use of design to portray the brand and to make our team members as engaged and productive as possible remains consistent. We’re really happy with how our first industrial space turned out,” Blumenthal said.

As part of the incentive package for Warby Parker to expand in New York State, Empire State Development (ESD) provided the company with up to $1.32 million in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits, VMail reported last year. As part of the deal, Warby Parker agreed to invest more than $15 million to construct and outfit the new factory.

In 2014, ESD agreed to provide the company with up to $2.2 million in Excelsior tax credits if it added 145 new jobs and retained 271 in its New York City headquarters. Under the terms of both incentive offers, Warby Parker will retain the agreed-upon employment figures through 2025.