Online Eyewear Brand Opens First Pop-Up Store On Greenwich Avenue

GREENWICH, CT — Féroce Eyewear recently opened its first pop-up store along Greenwich Avenue and is already receiving a steady flow of customers, according to owner and town resident Alexandra Baker.

Féroce, which typically operates as a direct-to-consumer online retail experience, officially opened the temporary store on Feb. 15. Located at 405 Greenwich Avenue, the pop-up is scheduled to run until June 15, a span of about four months.

Baker launched the Féroce brand in 2019 to "bridge the gap between fast fashion and designer sunglasses." (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Speaking by phone this week, she said the temporary store has received a good amount of foot traffic from residents eating outside at restaurants along the avenue when the weather is nice.

"When the weather's not as gorgeous out, there's a bit less traffic," Baker said. "Now that the weather has changed, we're really excited because we've already started to see...an uptick in traffic, so that's really exciting, and people are really responding well to the products."

According to Baker, the foot traffic is likely the result of customers leaving restaurants on Greenwich Avenue after a meal and discovering the pop-up store as they walk along the road.

She's also noticed a "big discovery element" when it comes to her store, in the sense that customers who come to eat at restaurants on Greenwich Avenue, especially those from out of town, do not have too much on their agendas when they're in the area due to the coronavirus crisis, leaving them more time to discover new businesses along the avenue.

"They want to just come and have lunch and then browse and discover the stores," Baker said, "more so than maybe somebody who is traditionally here all the time, so it's a little bit less of a hurry to come to a store perhaps."

While the pop-up store has operated for nearly a month, Baker noted the store's operations have not changed or adjusted much since opening.

See also: Online Eyewear Brand To Open First Pop-Up Store In Greenwich

She has also brought in some "very light and curated" selections of other brands that compliment Féroce, including hat brand Lack of Color and Yaitte, a clothing brand the offers "a very nautical lifestyle."

"We're kind of creating that entire spring, summer lifestyle," Baker said, "between the sunglasses, the hats and this shirt brand."

Baker said customers have responded particularly well to the temporary store's "styles and price points," and their feedback has been positive overall thus far. She has even made plans to incorporate some of that feedback into new products for the store.

"[Customer feedback] is the nicest thing to hear," Baker said, "because it makes us feel like we're doing the right thing and we're going in the right direction, and we're also learning from the customers too."

Baker also anticipates business along the avenue will get even stronger as coronavirus vaccines continue to roll out in town and the weather gets nicer during the spring and early summer.

"I think more than anything, it will also increase the amount of people eating and dining at the restaurants now," Baker said, "indoors and especially outdoors as well, and that will naturally increase traffic at our pop-up location."

Last week, Gov. Ned Lamont announced capacity limits will be eliminated for restaurants and certain businesses in Connecticut beginning March 19, something Greenwich Chamber of Commerce president Marcia O'Kane said is a sign of good things to come for businesses in town.

"As we see the safety mandates being cautiously lifted by our state," O'Kane said, "we are seeing businesses such as Feroce Eyewear view Greenwich Avenue as a desirable spot to land their business. There is a new excitement in the air as restaurants and stores are preparing for the March 19 easing by the government. There truly is light ahead for all businesses after a very long and challenging year."

Though the pop-up store's opening has been a positive experience so far, Baker said she was still unsure at this time if she would consider opening a more permanent store location in town.

"I think only time will tell," Baker said. "Everything is always just about timing, so we'll see when we're nearing the end of our pop-up experience."