Town Square drawing established businesses

Several regional businesses have opened up their second shop at Rockville’s newest address.

Love Your Eyes opened last week. If you are looking for stylish eyeglass frames (and a lunch-hour appointment with the eye doctor), this is the place for you.

Manager K.C. Hwang said the optometrist owner, Dr. Mark Lund, wanted to open his first office in Rockville, but the timing was not right. So, he opened his first shop in Gaithersburg in 2005, but when the opportunity arose to open a second one in Town Square, he took it.

Primo Italiano opened Memorial Day weekend. Kennedy Casperone’s father opened the first Primo Italiano 11 years ago in Reston, Va. When it came time to expend, Casperone brought the concept to Town Square.

The aromas of basil and thyme fill the red-and-white-checked bistro, and with good reason: Everything, including the sauces, breads and pizza dough, is made on the premises.

General manager Tudor Downey said customers come in and say, ‘‘Thank goodness you’ve finally come to where I live.”

Sushi Damo opened for both lunch and dinner last week. Owner Karyl Chong’s family opened its first Sushi Damo in New York City in 1998. When asked why she came to Rockville, she answered with a grin, ‘‘We wanted to raise the sushi bar here.”

With a Zagat-rated executive chef and an elegant, open, ‘‘Zen” décor (check out the stones and bamboo under the glass floor of the entryway), it’s doing just that.

Chong said, ‘‘Our chef imagines that he is cooking for the one he loves. Sushi comes from the heart.”

John Helm and Caroline Liberty opened their first Red Orchard in Bethesda to sell furniture and handicrafts. Their second store in Rockville is now featuring handmade clothing, jewelry and gifts by North American artists, including some local ones.

The flagstone and tile floor near the door is only the first work of art to see here.

Joan Barmat was an investment banker with a private passion for interior design. Fourteen years ago, she started Bedheaders in Great Falls, Va., as a hobby.

This is a family-owned and -operated place: Barmat’s mother, her two nieces and two nephews all work there. Barmat’s sister works at Montgomery County Public Schools headquarters (a few blocks north on Hungerford Drive), knew about Town Square, and thought it would be the perfect place for Barmat’s second store.

The newly opened shop features unusual pottery, crystal, linens, furniture and hostess gifts — our intern loved the enamel postage stamp holders. Barmat visits France and Italy several times a year to pick out stock; her Maryland customers no longer have to visit Virginia to buy it from her.

Cloud 9 Clothing also opened this month. This business breaks the ‘‘second shop” mold: It is Randy Shayotovish and Priya Rayadurg’s fourth store, although it is the first time they’ve left Baltimore (so we can say that Rockville is their second city).

Shayotovish said lots of customers have suggested that they open shops in Annapolis, Bethesda or Rockville, and they have received calls from a number of developers, but settling in Rockville Town Square seemed like the right deal at the right time.

The owners, who are husband and wife (she does the buying and merchandizing, and he handles the business and financial pieces), pride themselves on carrying ‘‘cool, hip brands for both women and men.”

Wireless Outlet, an AT&T⁄Cingular dealer, opened last week, and manager Tuan Le points out the modern convex façade. It is worth a nighttime visit just to see the changing rainbow lights that illuminate it.

Sally Sternbach is executive director of Rockville Economic Development Inc., the private-public economic development arm of the City of Rockville. This is part of a series of columns written in preparation for the grand opening of Rockville Town Square, the new mixed-use redevelopment project in the heart of the city.