New Independent Bookstore Opens in Kentlands

The Paper Heart, a new independent bookstore in Gaithersburg’s Kentlands, opened this month and marked it with a weekend of grand opening events. (patch.com) The store is on the second floor at 200 Main St., next to the Grilled Oyster Co., and Patch reported festivities ran Saturday, April 18, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (patch.com) The bookstore’s own event calendar listed a kickoff social hour on Wednesday, April 15, plus a book-lover meet-and-mingle, a 1990s craft night, kids story time and crafts, a 7 Wonders game night, and a community crossword. The owners were identified there as Ashley and Mike. (thepaperheartbooks.com) Those events show the store is opening as more than a retail shop. The calendar pairs book sales with children’s programming, hobby nights, and meetups built to bring readers back on specific days. (thepaperheartbooks.com) That fits the Kentlands setting. The Kentlands Citizens Assembly describes the neighborhood as an early New Urbanist community designed as a walkable, mixed-use district rather than a car-centered subdivision. (kentlands.com) The bookstore is also opening as the city continues planning and approving more mixed-use development nearby. Gaithersburg says the Market Square Block F redevelopment was approved for 245 apartments, 12,125 square feet of commercial space, and 576 parking spaces. (gaithersburgmd.gov) The Paper Heart’s regular schedule points to a neighborhood-serving model, not just a launch weekend. Patch reported the shop is open Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Monday and Tuesday closed. (patch.com) For Kentlands readers, the immediate change is concrete: a new bookstore now sits on Main Street with a full events calendar and plans to keep drawing people upstairs after opening weekend ends. (patch.com)