Dr. Rosen Rosen
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Audio Lab - that was my jam. I bought some dope speakers from that guy. Hope he finds a new home.
"The Garage" | 36 JFK Street | Harvard Square | Cambridge
- Thread starter bigpicture7
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i also hope they find a new spot (though they are crazy overpriced), but q audio in central is the place to go.
RandomWalk
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Talking with one of the Newbury Comics employees, the developer of this seems to have lost patience with the lab market. They are sprucing up the interior and attempting to attract non-restaurant tenants for the empty spaces.
More info from November 2023:
Renovations to the Garage Mall in Harvard Square Stalled Until ‘Major, Quality Tenant’ Identified | News | The Harvard Crimson
Since unveiling plans to completely transform the Garage in 2021, the developer’s president said the company is “choosing not to proceed” with the building’s redevelopment until it finds a “major, quality tenant.”
I'm so sad that all the interesting retailers have left. Not sure that there's going to be much "there" there unless they go like Bow Market.
I think that (emulating Bow) is precisely what they'd need to do. I also don't think HS supports -- even in that "Bow Market-ish" framework -- that type of small business. The Square is a terminal of an international airport placed outdoors at this point, with better architecture and some cool historical quirks and depth.
High-end chains and unremarkable smaller-scale operations -- all overpriced.
I don't doubt it's still fun for many. It's just very different than it once was.
and 
RandomWalk
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The recent remodel of the Coop has turned into a Harvard swag store, with some books sprinkled throughout. It was sad walking through it.
Everything is for sale, and the only product that is consumed is image. Universities, hospitals, museums, restaurants, and whole cities are no longer local or national brands: all that matters is rich tourists and investors from China, Dubai, London, and Russia (et al) want whatever it is the image claims to represent. And to that end, there quality matters not; as long as your reviews are solid, wherever they come from, your brand will keep on selling.
bigpicture7
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The spirit of your observation is spot on (IMO), but it is worth pointing out that there are actually still a remarkable quantity of books there (by today's standards), you just have to go all the way up to the third floor (which is 100% books and quite packed-in). The point is that the "high-rent" areas (street frontage, and the large/beautiful double-height/mezzanine main hall) are totally sold-out to tourist swag. The same thing happened with the MIT press book store - a great store with great inventory, but stuffed down into the basement so that museum gift shop could get a bunch of frontage. These wealthy institutions somehow feel compelled to shove the authentic stuff into basements and attic. It would be more understandable if there were zero vacancies at street level in these neighborhods, but it still seems that the prime frontage waits vacant with high rent until the next national chain, bank, or cell carrier takes it.
All of this said, I actually think The Garage has a shot at remaining local/authentic if it cares enough to do so. Assuming the owner owns the property outright and it already has decent bones for retail, the barriers to entry for lower rent retail are actually more benign there compared to most anywhere else in the area.