Optometry business opens in Belknap Mill

LACONIA — Derek and Jennifer Guarino first contacted a real estate agent in the Lakes Region because they were looking for a home away from the hustle of downtown Dover. What they ended up with was a small space in the Belknap Mill, where they opened a second location of their optometry business, Eye Logic.

Eye Logic, located on the first floor of the Mill, opened at the beginning of the summer. The Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting on Friday.

The Guarinos, who have operated an optometry business in Dover for 13 years,  heard through industry contacts that there was room for another eye care office in Laconia, following the closure of a couple of small offices.

“We heard there was a need, a shortage of eye care,” Derek said. “We like the area, we thought about relocating.”

Derek is a Massachusetts native, but his wife, Jennifer, is from the New Durham area.

“I grew up on Winnipesaukee, spent a lot of summers at Weirs Beach, we both love the lakes and mountains,” she said.

And they liked the idea of coming downtown, which they see as being on an upswing. The chance to open a store in the oldest unaltered textile mill in America was too good to pass up.

“It’s a beautiful, historic building. It fits our persona – we sell luxury lines, but we also want to be approachable,” Jennifer said. Eye Logic also sells a limited selection of economy frames.

Jennifer said that she admires the many community events that Laconia hosts – such as the Multicultural Festival in September, and the Pumpkin Festival this coming weekend – and they get to be right in the middle of them at the Mill.

“I think that provides a great opportunity. I love your downtown, I hope we grow with you,” she said.

Eye Logic is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.