Staying Afloat in Harvard Square

Harvard students arriving for the new school year came home to a different Square.

Over the summer, students lost one staple and gained another--literally.

The office supply store Staples moved in on JFK Street, while Express and Structure, standbys for students going clothes shopping, bowed out.

The new Staples and a planned Sprint telephone store represent the continuing trend of gentrification in the Square--but as Express' departure shows, it's not just mom-and-pops that are leaving.

The bottom line is that, big or small, stores that want to make it in the cutthroat Harvard Square of today need a combination of an appealing product, good customer service, and an ample budget for rent.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Four weeks ago, as students were beginning to arrive and move in, the Express women's shop and Structure men's shop--both owned by Limited, Inc.-- vacated their space at One Brattle Square.

There was little fanfare for the stores' departure, which makes way for Club Monaco, described by the property owner as a line of Ralph Lauren clothing.

The departure took Express employees as well as students by surprise. Express Spokesperson Tara Savin said the store was not in financial trouble.

The decision to leave, rather, came after representatives of C.B. Richard Ellis company, the property's landlord, approached Express, saying the company had received a better offer for the space, Savin said.

"Our decision to move was a real estate decision," Savin explained. "The landlord of the property had another, better offer and we decided to relinquish the space."

Once the landlord approached Express, the decision was fairly simple, Savin said.

"While we didn't initiate the decision to move, it just made sense for everybody," she said. "It will give the new tenant and the landlord an opportunity to make some money."

Though Express and Structure were not in financial trouble per se, the decision to vacate was nonetheless motivated by financial concerns.

The fact that a national chain, which was blessed with immense popularity among Harvard students and perpetual long lines at its registers, still chose to leave is a testament to the Square's steepening rents.

"There are questions about why a space like that couldn't survive," said Robin Lapidus, director of the Harvard Square Business Association.

Club Monaco hopes to open in a few weeks, said Eileen Parker, property manager for C.B. Richard Ellis.

As for Express, the company's main concern in moving, Savin said, was allegiance to its customers.

"We would never want to abandon our customers," Savin said, "But we were pretty sure they will still have a lot of opportunities to shop at Express."

In fact, Savin said, of Express's 700 stores, 14 are in the Boston area. Harvard undergraduates can shop at Express in the Cambridgeside Galleria, on Newbury Street, and at two other locations in Boston.

But students who had grown to rely on Express as a staple for cute, inexpensive clothes are disappointed.

"There aren't that many women's clothing stores around that you can afford," said Sujean S. Lee '03, a self-proclaimed frequenter of Express.

"I went maybe five times last year, but when I went, I bought a lot," she said. "It was just so easy to go in there when you're bored and feel like procrastinating."

Though Lee is familiar with Club Monaco and likes its clothing lines, she said she doesn't see the new store replacing Express's place in her closet.

In fact, Lee said she went to Express at the Cambridgeside Galleria last weekend and bought a sweater, a pair of pants and a fleece.

Of Club Monaco, she said, "I'll probably browse there more than I'll shop, because my budget won't allow it," Lee said.

Roll With the Changes

A branch of the Framingham-based office supply empire Staples opened its newest store on the corner of JFK and Winthrop Streets at the beginning of September.

This move makes Staples the latest national corporation to open a store in the Square.

Adidas moved in last year, replacing the century-old Square music store Briggs & Briggs, and a Sprint telephone store is scheduled to replace neighborhood market Sage's, which closed last spring.

Staples occupies two floors in the Crimson Galleria, replacing a Swatch watch store and a downstairs space that used to house the Sony Janus movie theater. The store carries a range of office items, from notebooks and pencils to cellular phones and computer games.

Some worry that Staples poses a threat to family-owned and operated stationery store Bob Slate's.

"We've heard people clamoring, saying that they won't shop at Staples just to support Slate's," Lapidus said. Slate's owner Justin Slate said that while he is "concerned" about the threat Staples poses, he trusts that his loyal clientele will not desert him.

"We have a history of understanding a need and fulfilling a need in a way that chain stores can't do," Slate said, "We will do our best to compete."

But when it comes to buying notebooks and pencils, price and convenience, rather than allegiance to a certain store, seem to be the highest priority for students.

Meredith J. Curley '01, for instance, used to shop at Bob Slate's

but said she now plans to go to Staples "because it's much cheaper."

Joanna B. Davis '01, meanwhile, said she has found that the CVS in Porter Square has even better prices than Staples and is only a short walk from her Cabot House home.

Personal worries aside, Slate said he finds the larger trend toward national corporations troubling. After all, he said, it is just easier for companies like Staples or Express, who do not have their livelihood tied up in one or two locations.

"The rents are skyrocketing," he said. "It's been horrendous. Chain stores can come in, see if they make it for five years--it's just a drop in the bucket compared to an ad in the Super Bowl-- but we just can't afford to do that."

And as long as national corporations are willing to pay exorbitant rents for the prestige of a Square location, the prices will just keep rising, Slate said.

But it's not just the idea of a new national corporation in the Square that has raised objections.

"People have complained about the sign being very large, very red and very overwhelming," Lapidus said.

Luggage World, where Bob Backman has worked for 25 years, is Staples' next-door neighbor in the Crimson Galleria.

"I'm not happy being next to a store with a storefront that has decided to completely cover up their windows with red," Backman said, "They have a right to be here--the same as anyone else--but their image is just not conducive to the way the Square looks."

Despite the objections, Lapidus said storeowners have been much less vocal in complaining about Staples than they have been in the past.

"There is a sense of habituation to things like this happening, or maybe a kind of acceptance," Lapidus said.

Indeed, Square business owners recognize that change is inevitable, and the only way to survive is to rise to the challenge.

"Despite all these changes, people still want service," Backman agrees, "They appreciate the one-on-one human interaction that we can give them."