Shoppers Hit Square Stores

Retailers rolled out a variety of promotions and discounts with mixed results last Friday in an effort to lure recession-weary consumers into Harvard Square stores, hoping that the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season might boost revenues battered in recent months by a tumbling economy.

Expecting the worst, Cambridge business owners said they were pleasantly surprised at the number of shoppers on Friday. One early report suggested that national sales had increased only 3 percent from last year, and all local business owners acknowledged feeling the effects of the slowing economy.

At the Adidas Store on Mass. Ave., where employees handed out coupons mimicking back-stage passes that offered passers-by the chance to win gift certificates, managers were decidedly bleak about business prospects.

“Not well,” said Assistant Manager Maria S. Lacuesta when asked how Black Friday sales at the boutique were progressing.

At major retailers in Harvard Square—The Gap, Eastern Mountain Sports, and Urban Outfitters—traffic throughout Friday afternoon was moderate and not near the crushing crowds seen at major retailers around the country.

At Urban Outfitters on Brattle Square, where limited discounts were offered, bundled up hipsters and their compliant parents turned out in sufficient force for the store to meet its sales goal, a slight increase over last year’s figures, according to store merchandiser Michael Graney.

Smaller boutiques opted for a creative approach to entice customers.

Concepts, a sneaker boutique, began selling a shoe exclusive to its store, drawing a large crowd when doors opened Friday morning, said Tarek Hassan, the owner of Concepts and nearby Tannery boutiques.

“You have to go outside the box to make sales in an economy like this,” said Hassan, who said his stores have posted single digit growth in the past month. At the Tannery bold red tape announced discounts from 20 to 50 percent on the store’s wares.

At the Harvard Coop, University President Drew G. Faust was spotted with her daughter Jessica Faust ’04. The Civil War historian looked through a Lincoln biography.

A staid clientele filed into the bookstore to avoid crowds at local malls.

“The people who come here are interested in something better than buying clothes. It is an escape from Black Friday,” said Suzanne M. Wolfe, who shopped with her son Medical School professor Richard E. Wolfe.

Ivy League outfitter J. Press was minimally affected by the day, according to General Manager Denis E. Black—a normal occurrence for the store, he said.

Their male clientele was most likely completing holiday shopping for the family on Black Friday, and would return to J. Press the next weekend, Black said.

In light of economic developments, Cambridge business operators were marked in their optimism.

“In this economy, if you break even you’re ahead of the game,” Hassan said.