Square Kiosk Finds New Owners

Convenience store and newsstand operator Muckey’s Corp. signed a lease to take over Out of Town News earlier this week, rescuing the iconic Harvard Square kiosk from an uncertain future.

The decades-old newsstand stocking domestic and international publications was rumored to be closing this month, after its former operator Hudson News did not renew its lease, citing diminished demand for print news.

The looming threat of vacancy prompted the City of Cambridge, which owns the 450-square-foot property, to temporarily extend Hudson’s lease at a reduced price while it solicited bids for long-term occupancy.

Muckey’s bid of $140 a square foot earlier this month beat out those of three other prospective owners, including Unofficial Tours LLC, which was founded by Harvard students; Canada-based Gateway Newsstands; and Kallol Barua, the current general manager of the building. Unofficial Tours had the runner-up offer at $136 per square foot.

According to Cambridge purchasing agent Cynthia H. Griffin, Muckey’s—which runs newsstands under the name Patriot News Inc.—will continue to operate the space as a newsstand.

The city’s call for bidders specifically required that the space remain a newsstand, Griffin said.

Though most bidders’ proposals involved little change to how the kiosk currently operates, Unofficial Tours had a different vision. President Daniel Andrew ’07 said their plan was to transform the space into a conceptual “concierge desk for Harvard Square,” providing tour tickets, maps, restaurant menus, and other resources for tourists.

Currently, Unofficial Tours has a permit with the City of Cambridge to maintain its signs outside the kiosk.

Had their bid been successful, they would have retained half the space as a newsstand and changed the other half into a souvenir shop whose sales would have made up the bulk of their revenue.

Griffin said Muckey’s lease lasts for five years, with an additional five-year term at the discretion of the city. Muckey’s did not return a request for comment for this article.

According to Andrew, Unofficial Tours, which uses the space as the start for its student-led tours, is already planning to work closely with Patriot News.

“It’s important to us that that stand is run well and popular since it brings us business,” Andrew said. “I hope to work with the new owners to make that space vibrant and relevant.”

The last time the newsstand changed hands was in 1994, when its owner and founder Sheldon Cohen sold the kiosk to Hudson News in the face of financial troubles.

The building was constructed in 1928 as a shelter for the Harvard Square stop of the Boston Elevated Railway and is on the national register of historic buildings.

—Staff writer Liyun Jin can be reached at ljin@fas.harvard.edu.