The Harvard Shop Opens Third Location on Mt. Auburn Street

An ivy-covered wall, scattered antique furniture, and old photographs lend a vintage atmosphere to The Harvard Shop’s new store at 65 Mt. Auburn St. The recent arrival is the third location for the student-run retailer, which also operates storefronts on JFK Street and in the Holyoke Center.

Describing the student-designed interior, the store’s Managing Director Ryley Reynolds ’15 said that she and her team “definitely wanted to make it some place you like to shop and not just some place you have to go.”

The Harvard Shop, which employs more than 100 students each year and is a subsidiary of Harvard Student Agencies, took over a former office of the STA Travel agency. The new location is the most spacious of the three and includes a basement that might play host to various pop-up businesses throughout the year.

“What’s really exciting about it is since we have a larger space, we have opportunities to carry new items,” said Reynolds.

One such item is what Reynolds described as the “‘H’ sweater.” She said the piece of clothing, which was popular around the 1960s, will be sold exclusively at the Mt. Auburn Street location.

“We reinvented the Harvard ‘H’ sweater, and we brought it back,” she said.

Reynolds noted that the Mt. Auburn Street location will also stock “year sweaters” displaying class years, like those worn by students in the early 1900s. The Vineyard Vines Harvard collection—a best seller at the JFK Street and Holyoke Center shops—will also feature prominently in the new store. She added that The Harvard Shop continues to seek new product ideas from students.

During its grand opening on Sept. 5 the new store will feature free giveaways and offer a 20 percent discount for all guests. Free refreshments from Boston’s tricycle-riding barista “The Coffee Trike” and a performance by The Harvard LowKeys will accompany the 5 p.m. ribbon cutting.

In addition to being student-run, Harvard Student Agencies is a non-profit organization, and revenue from The Harvard Shop funds wages for employed students.

—Staff writer Nikki D. Erlick can be reached at nikki.erlick@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @nikkierlick.