Mt. Auburn Hair Cuttery to Close

Hair Cuttery will be snipped from its Harvard Square location on March 17, according to its manager.

Hair Cuttery is a national franchise of unisex hair salons founded in Virginia in 1974. The store has been at its location at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Eliot St. since 2006, when it replaced a Supercuts.

Karen A. Doyon, the store’s recently hired manager, said that the closing was due to a rent increase from the shop’s landlords.

“They doubled on the rent,” Doyon said.

A sign in the window of Hair Cuttery already advertises the retail space for a lease. According to Doyon, the store has been handing out $5 coupons to customers that detail other Hair Cuttery locations nearby, and has contacted customers about the closing through email.

The decision to close the store came from Hair Cuttery management, and was prompted by the rent increase, Doyon said. Intercontinental Real Estate, led by Peter Palandjian ’87, owns the 104 Mt. Auburn building that also houses a Cambridge Savings Bank and the Harvard University Employees Credit Union.

Rents in the Square have skyrocketed in recent years, forcing some local businesses to shutter their doors and leading to persistent vacancies in prime locations. Large real estate companies like Intercontinental Real Estate and Harvard donor Gerald L. Chan’s Morningside have also increased their Square property holdings in the past few years.

A spokesperson for Hair Cuttery could not be reached for comment.

Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, said the decision to close was unexpected.

“It comes as a surprise,” Jillson said. “They are long members of the Business Association.”

Jillson added that she has not heard of any potential businesses eyeing a move in to the storefront.