Mom and Pop Make a Go

Late in the afternoon at the Grolier Poetry Bookshop on Plympton Street, a little white dog named Jessie greets customers searching for an elusive volume of Blake or perhaps Neruda. Unlike the previous generation of Grolier customers, these come to buy, not to hang out, in the crowded little shop.

Owner Louisa Solano fondly recalls the days before she took over the store. Since the former owner could afford to carry a small stock of books, he used floor space for couches and chairs.

In lieu of the seating area, Solano has increased the number of titles she carries from 2,000 to 16,000. She supports herself with the store, and is using creativity and personal attention to her customers to move her specialized merchandise off the shelves.

But with Grolier's reincarnation as a serious small business, its clientele has changed. Gone are the pipe-smoking Advocate members and loitering Harvard professors.

Though Solano speaks sentimentally about her store's past, she emphasizes that one of her goals was to rid the shop of its "clubby atmosphere."

"Women were not welcome here unless they were attractive as hell, married to someone wealthy or sleeping with one of the writers," she says with a wry smile.

However, the new strategy--increased merchandise and a welcoming atmosphere--is not a panacea. The Harvard Square book market no longer hosts a plentitude of small bookstores. Barnes and Noble, amazon.com and multi-media stores like Media Play draw customers looking for convenience and selection not offered in stores like Grolier.

In the past year several small Harvard Square businesses like Grolier have left the Square for more fruitful markets in nearby neighborhoods. They cite the increasingly homogenized customer base, inconvenient and crowded location and comparatively high rents as reasons for seeking new homes. As the Square loses its diversity of stores, the people and essence of the neighborhood are changing.

Feels Like Home

Last month McIntyre & Moore Booksellers moved its stock of used books from Harvard to Davis Square. Owner Daniel Moore says he is happier there, where the neighborhood and costs are more in line with the way Harvard Square was when Moore founded his shop 15 years ago on Mount Auburn Street.

Moore opened the Davis Square store last April because he realized he could be more profitable there. For only 15 percent more rent, he has four times the floor space he did in Harvard Square. Almost immediately after the Davis location opened, his Harvard Square sales dropped by 15 percent, indicating his customers would rather shop at the Somerville location.

"We had virtually nothing on our shelves [in Davis Square] and lots of really good stuff in Harvard Square," Moore says.

Harvard Square was once a destination for used book aficionados and book lovers in general. The area between Harvard and MIT had the highest concentration of bookstores in the world.

But as he sat covering damaged paper book jackets with durable plastic covers, Moore lamented the change in his old neighborhood. He estimates that 30 percent of his customers once lived in Cambridge, but that number halved after residential rent control ended in the mid-90s, forcing many of his customers into lower-rent areas.

Moore says his new location is actually more convenient for shoppers, and he doesn't worry about losing local customers. In fact, Moore is excited about his new surroundings. There is a synergy between his store's character and Davis Square.

"[It] is viewed as a pretty interesting neighborhood," Moore says. He adds that the square was named as one of the nation's 15 up-and-coming neighborhoods in the Utney Reader, which he describes as a "yuppie magazine."

Those yuppies follow the trend and buy from Moore's eclectic and extensive selection of used books. His advance copies of books and focus on specialized and hard-to-find subjects draw customers out to his store.

"There's not really that much left in Harvard Square that you can't get elsewhere," he says.

Across the way from the new McIntyre & Moore, Buck-a-Book's bright green sign advertises new books for only a dollar. Down the street, the funky Someday Cafe and the Somerville Theater liven up the nightlife. It seems that McIntyre & Moore is again in its element.

Moore recalls the abundance of used bookstores in the Harvard Square of yore. He says McIntyre & Moore would thrive in any community full of artists and students, plenty of trendy bars, theaters, restaurants and places to hear live music. His description matches the old stereotype of Harvard Square.

McIntyre & Moore joins a procession of small businesses that have recently left Harvard Square. The Mass Army Navy Store and Seven Stars bookstore moved to Central Square, while Pipeline Records relocated to Inman Square. The stores move because their business models cannot survive in today's Harvard Square.

The new Mass Army Navy Store, at 698 Mass. Ave., carries the same merchandise as the old, but in a brighter, cleaner location. Even though the store lost more than half its square footage in the move, a more logical layout allows customers breathing room between the racks of survival gear.

General manager Matthew Sudhalter says he hopes to attract the same customers, since the new location is closer to MIT and not much farther from Harvard. Rather than change its style to fit changes in Harvard Square, the store moved to a place where it could accommodate its customers.

Like Moore, Sudhalter mourns the changing atmosphere of the Square.

"At one time Harvard Square was synonymous with small, funky businesses," he says.

Stayin' Alive

The shops that emerge as standbys, it turns out, endure by maintaining a loyal client base while paying careful attention to the wants and needs of the masses.

In 1931 Bob Slate first opened his stationery store across the river in Allston, but he soon realized Harvard Square would be a more profitable location. He moved the store to Holyoke Street, where sales stagnated due to a lack of foot traffic.

"He got tired of seeing the same group of kids walk up and down Holyoke Street," says Slate's son Mallory H. Slate, who is now co-owner of the chain of three Bob Slate stores.

Slate then asked the owner of a dry cleaning shop on Mass. Ave. to sell some of his ring binders and pencils. The dry cleaner agreed, business flourished and now Bob Slate is a Square institution. Bob Slate, for his part, cleaned shirts until the 1950's.

Like other proprietors of surviving businesses, Mallory Slate says adapting to changing customer needs allowed his stores to flourish.

Bob Slate used to sell basic school supplies, but has moved away from those into more expensive specialty items.

"I used to laugh at people who would come inlooking for a special kind of paper," he says. "Iwould say, `We ain't no damn boutique here! Wesell envelopes and notebooks and paper clips.'"

The store has shifted to upscale and "pretty"merchandise, according to Slate, in response tocustomer demand.

Incompatible Elite

Oona's owner Kathleen M. White says changes indemand have made her store unsuited to the peoplewho frequent the Square. She says costumes such asgenuine flapper dresses and 70s disco outfits,rather than everyday clothing, now provide thebulk of her income.

"People who live in luxury condos don't buyused clothing," she says. "I look outside now andI see power suits and sneakers."

White says she is looking for a new locationand mentions Davis Square, which she calls "theSoHo of Somerville," as one possibility.

"I'd be a fool to sit here until no one'scoming in anymore," she says.

Sage's grocery store, on the corner of Brattleand Church Streets, has seen and adjusted tosimilar customer changes since its opening in1898.

Owner Charles E. Sage says his customer baseused to include a number of suburbanites who woulddrive into Harvard Square and shop, but that helost this group due to lack of parking.

Now Sage has tailored his inventory tostudents.

"We don't sell heavy things or big sizes ofthings," Sage said, adding that he also hasincreased his stock of snack items to cater tostudents and a walk-in crowd.

Sage's success is due in large part to itsability to adjust in a very competitive market. Ifa Square store defaults on its rent, another isalways waiting in the wings to replace it.

"The problem with Harvard Square is that youreally have to be on top of your business becauseof the competition for your space," says John D.DiGiovanni, president of Trinity PropertyManagement, a Square landlord.

In this cutthroat market, the same customersthat some small businesses complain about can savea store with their loyalty.

Sudholz describes the group living and workingin and around the Square as "diverse,well-educated, affluent and loyal," and says, "Ifit decides it likes something it will work veryhard to support it."

One women's clothing store found its niche inhigh quality lingerie, which is not offered at themany Square stores marketing goods to students.Louise M. Ciampi founded Clothware in 1972. Her"encouraging" revenues of recent years are a signthat Clothware is here to stay.

Ciampi says that her inventory has attracted afaithful group of professional, lunchtime shoppersand allowed her to persevere in the Square.

Ciampi's lines of lingerie and sleepwear inrare European brands attract not only those wholive and work in the Square, but also tourists.

"I carry nice things," she says.

And when it comes to today's Harvard Square, itseems that's the bottom line.

A Tough Sell

Ciampi is lucky that her store can meet thedesires of customers who still shop in HarvardSquare. The fundamental changes in Cambridge'spopulation have led to trouble for many smallbusinesses. A more intellectual customer base witha lower income once sustained a group of storesthat now struggle to find a new niche.

Louisa Solano has lived in several Squarelocations and remembers it as a place full offamilies.

"At one time all of the houses on these blockshad children," she says. "Now most of my friends'houses have been sold to Harvard or Lesley Collegeas administrative offices or dorms."

The stable community has been replaced by ayounger crowd that is moving on and moving up.Because of the mobile nature of the Squarecommunity, stores have to fight for new customersregularly.

This cutthroat competition can be particularlytaxing on small businesses with less money tolose.

One victim of this vulnerability may be theGrolier Poetry Bookshop. A string of thefts in thepast year have left it unstable financially.

"I am blessed and cursed with one of the mostcreative customer bases in the area," Solano says."Unfortunately they do not have a strong sense ofethics."

For years she has brought poetry readings andbook signings to Plympton Street in a fight toincrease her store's prominence. Support fromHarvard helps, but may not be enough to sustain astore that is the project of one woman.

"I'm not sure how much longer I'm willing to dothis," Solano says, indicating the constantuncertainty that characterizes small business inthe Square

"I used to laugh at people who would come inlooking for a special kind of paper," he says. "Iwould say, `We ain't no damn boutique here! Wesell envelopes and notebooks and paper clips.'"

The store has shifted to upscale and "pretty"merchandise, according to Slate, in response tocustomer demand.

Incompatible Elite

Oona's owner Kathleen M. White says changes indemand have made her store unsuited to the peoplewho frequent the Square. She says costumes such asgenuine flapper dresses and 70s disco outfits,rather than everyday clothing, now provide thebulk of her income.

"People who live in luxury condos don't buyused clothing," she says. "I look outside now andI see power suits and sneakers."

White says she is looking for a new locationand mentions Davis Square, which she calls "theSoHo of Somerville," as one possibility.

"I'd be a fool to sit here until no one'scoming in anymore," she says.

Sage's grocery store, on the corner of Brattleand Church Streets, has seen and adjusted tosimilar customer changes since its opening in1898.

Owner Charles E. Sage says his customer baseused to include a number of suburbanites who woulddrive into Harvard Square and shop, but that helost this group due to lack of parking.

Now Sage has tailored his inventory tostudents.

"We don't sell heavy things or big sizes ofthings," Sage said, adding that he also hasincreased his stock of snack items to cater tostudents and a walk-in crowd.

Sage's success is due in large part to itsability to adjust in a very competitive market. Ifa Square store defaults on its rent, another isalways waiting in the wings to replace it.

"The problem with Harvard Square is that youreally have to be on top of your business becauseof the competition for your space," says John D.DiGiovanni, president of Trinity PropertyManagement, a Square landlord.

In this cutthroat market, the same customersthat some small businesses complain about can savea store with their loyalty.

Sudholz describes the group living and workingin and around the Square as "diverse,well-educated, affluent and loyal," and says, "Ifit decides it likes something it will work veryhard to support it."

One women's clothing store found its niche inhigh quality lingerie, which is not offered at themany Square stores marketing goods to students.Louise M. Ciampi founded Clothware in 1972. Her"encouraging" revenues of recent years are a signthat Clothware is here to stay.

Ciampi says that her inventory has attracted afaithful group of professional, lunchtime shoppersand allowed her to persevere in the Square.

Ciampi's lines of lingerie and sleepwear inrare European brands attract not only those wholive and work in the Square, but also tourists.

"I carry nice things," she says.

And when it comes to today's Harvard Square, itseems that's the bottom line.

A Tough Sell

Ciampi is lucky that her store can meet thedesires of customers who still shop in HarvardSquare. The fundamental changes in Cambridge'spopulation have led to trouble for many smallbusinesses. A more intellectual customer base witha lower income once sustained a group of storesthat now struggle to find a new niche.

Louisa Solano has lived in several Squarelocations and remembers it as a place full offamilies.

"At one time all of the houses on these blockshad children," she says. "Now most of my friends'houses have been sold to Harvard or Lesley Collegeas administrative offices or dorms."

The stable community has been replaced by ayounger crowd that is moving on and moving up.Because of the mobile nature of the Squarecommunity, stores have to fight for new customersregularly.

This cutthroat competition can be particularlytaxing on small businesses with less money tolose.

One victim of this vulnerability may be theGrolier Poetry Bookshop. A string of thefts in thepast year have left it unstable financially.

"I am blessed and cursed with one of the mostcreative customer bases in the area," Solano says."Unfortunately they do not have a strong sense ofethics."

For years she has brought poetry readings andbook signings to Plympton Street in a fight toincrease her store's prominence. Support fromHarvard helps, but may not be enough to sustain astore that is the project of one woman.

"I'm not sure how much longer I'm willing to dothis," Solano says, indicating the constantuncertainty that characterizes small business inthe Square