Expansion In Store For Sola

Despite the high cost of operating a store in Harvard Square, JasmineSola—a popular retailer on Brattle Street—is expanding.

The store moved its shoe selection, which was adjacent to the main location at 37A Brattle St., to another storefront five doors down on Sunday. A third store carrying men and women’s denim will move into the old shoe store location in two weeks.

Luciano Manganella, who founded JasmineSola in Harvard Square in 1970, said that he moved the shoe store to 29 Brattle St. in order to present his merchandise more attractively, not because JasmineSola’s business is thriving. “Business in the Square has diminished over the last couple of years [and] rents are prohibitive,” Manganella said.

Despite the high costs, Manganella and his wife have built the store over the last 30 years from a fledgling shop for handmade crafts to a small but expensive New England fashion empire. Besides the Harvard Square shops, JasmineSola operates Newbury Street, Prudential Center and Chestnut Hill locations, in addition to stores in Connecticut and Providence, R.I.

Last month, the Boston Globe reported that Manganella was in talks with venture capitalists to open 50 more JasmineSola stores across the country in the next five years.

Manganella characterized his Harvard Square clientele as a mix of students, Cambridge residents and tourists.

The store is especially popular among Harvard women, along with Urban Outfitters and the Tannery.

Sarah E. Johnson ’06, who calls herself an “occasional” JasmineSola shopper, said she has bought four pairs of jeans there over the past year and a half.

Popular JasmineSola jeans—such as 7, Citizens for Humanity, and Diesel—sell for $100 to $200.

Julie A. Lane ’07, an officer of a “Stylish Shopaholics” group on thefacebook.com, called JasmineSola a “mini-Bloomingdale’s”.

“Just like with anything that’s designer, [JasmineSola] is a better quality and a better fit”, Lane said.

JasmineSola Shoes is moving into the former site of Brine’s Sporting Goods, next to Brattle Square Florists. The sports shop closed last March due to high rent after 137 years in Harvard Square. The Limited, Pacific Sunwear and Abercrombie & Fitch have all left the Square in recent years, too.

While other clothing chains promote their own brands, JasmineSola offers dozens of external brands and sells its own line of clothing. Manganella said he doesn’t feel threatened by other retailers and that he tries not to think about his competitors.

“My philosophy is the best competition is no competition,” Manganella said.

—Staff writer Brendan R. Linn can be reached at blinn@fas.harvard.edu.