Shops by Harvard Yard: A Fair Choice

Although the recent decision by Harvard Planning and Real Estate (HPRE) to convert the Shops by Harvard Yard into University-owned shops and services has raised the hackles of vendors, we support the University's prudent and financially astute move.

In a meeting two weeks ago, HPRE officials told vendors who sell goods in the Shops that the University would begin renovating the ground floor of Holyoke Center this summer and would allow the vendors to operate until July. That gives the vendors two full three-month lease periods to move out.

The vendors say they were misled, because they believed they would be allowed to lease the space for a longer period of time. Harvard says the shops have been a financial disappointment.

Although we sympathize with the vendors' plight, we believe HPRE has been more than fair by giving the vendors six months' notice. The University's decision plainly makes financial sense. And Harvard is going above and beyond its duty by helping the shop owners to relocate.

When the Shops by Harvard Yard opened two years ago, we thought they were filled with services and goods largely irrelevant to students. We still think so. A $50 handblown vase or a silk tie may be a nice investment, but we don't need pricey kitsch outside our front door.

Most of the stores within the heated alleyway are not exactly blockbuster hits, at least among the College community. While the kiosks are eye-catching and the shop windows nicely designed, we tend to spend more time at the UHS Pharmacy than at any of the other shops in the vicinity.

If the shops were a financial boon for the University, that would be one thing. But "the arcade has not been the financial success that was originally anticipated," said HPRE Director of University and Commercial Properties Scott Levitan.

And Harvard's new plan for the shops is a good one: the space will be devoted to University shops and services, so the alley could turn out to be a friendly welcoming mat to visitors and Harvardians alike.

We understand that the vendors feel slighted, but that is not Harvard's fault. The very fact that they were given three-month leases should have given them a hint that perhaps the Shops were not forever.

When a shop is not making much money, it makes business sense to close it. With this decision, Harvard is employing business sense as well as keeping an eye on the future.