WEST DES MOINES, Iowa—In another sign of the blending of retail and health care, Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. has established a partnership with online retailer Pair Eyewear that will bring Pair Eyewear kiosks into select Hy-Vee locations across the company’s eight-state region. The first kiosk will be inside the new Grimes Hy-Vee in Grimes, Iowa. Hy-Vee will be the first U.S. retailer to offer customers the ability to try on and shop Pair Eyewear products in stores, according to an announcement late last week.

Hy-Vee, an employee-owned corporation operating more than 280 retail stores across eight Midwestern states, plans to open more than a dozen in-store Pair Eyewear kiosks over the next year, the companies said. No further details on the planned locations were disclosed.
 
The Pair Eyewear kiosks will offer a hybrid shopping experience for Hy-Vee customers, allowing them to try eyewear frames on in stores and place prescription and non-prescription orders online through the in-store kiosk, the announcement noted.
 
Products will be shipped directly to the customer’s home within five to seven business days through standard free shipping.
 
“The introduction of Pair Eyewear to our Hy-Vee customers brings variety and value to their shopping experience through this hybrid model,” Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in the announcement. “By combining our in-store format with Pair’s e-commerce platform, we are able to build a unique and convenient experience for our customers.”
 
Pair Eyewear offers eyewear for adults and children, including optical glasses, sunglasses and blue light glasses, available in both prescription and non-prescription form.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with Hy-Vee in launching Pair Eyewear’s first physical retail outpost as we continue to reimagine the way people shop for glasses,” Pair Eyewear co-chief executive and co-founder Sophia Edelstein, said. “We look forward to introducing our innovative, customizable products to Hy-Vee customers in a fun and interactive setting, encouraging Hy-Vee customers to personalize and wear their Pair Eyewear as an empowering form of self-expression.”
 
In addition to the brand’s “base frame,” customers can choose from a wide variety of “top frames,” that attach to the base magnetically, allowing wearers to change their style in a snap, the announcement noted.
 
The brand offers more than 1,000 customizable top frame designs, including collaborations with Harry Potter, Marvel, and the pro sports leagues NHL and MLB, among others. Base frame prices start at $60, including prescription lenses, and top frames start at $25 each. 
 
Hy-Vee customers will be able to try on Pair Eyewear’s most popular base frames in-person, and browse the brand’s vast collection of top frames through the kiosk’s digital component, including some of the brand’s limited-edition and collaboration collections.
 
For every pair of glasses purchased, Pair donates a percentage of sales to the EYElliance, which works to provide vision care to school-aged children around the world.