A Grande Loss for the Garage: Another Harvard Square Starbucks to Close

After more than 20 years in business, the Starbucks in Harvard's Square's Garage is set to close Friday at 9:30 p.m., the most recent in a string of closings sweeping through the Square.

The upcoming Garage closure marks the second Starbucks location to leave the Square in recent months. Another store in the Seattle-based franchise, previously located on Church Street, shuttered its doors in late 2018.

In a letter addressed to customers, Starbucks district manager Bridget Cortese and store manager Jennifer Mau thanked the store’s clientele for their business.

“We would like to thank you for being part of our store community; you are the heart of who we are at Starbucks. It has been a great pleasure to connect with you every day since 1996,” Cortese and Mau wrote.

With the departures of both the Garage and Church Street coffeehouses, the chain's Harvard Yard location near the Harvard Square Kiosk is the last Starbucks outpost near the river.

For some Harvard College students, the Starbucks in the Garage doubled as a “social space.”

“This is a central hub for all the students who live along the river and even for the people who come from the Quad,” Yuki M. Zbytovsky ’20 said. “A lot of the time we run into a lot of our classmates, so this is also a good social space for us. I’m really, really bummed.”

Lauren A. Sierra ’19, a former Crimson editor, said the slew of closings in Harvard Square have caused her “heartbreak.” Sierra called the Garage Starbucks her “safe haven.”

“When they come for my Starbucks, they come for me on a personal level,” she said.

Clea F. Schumer ’20 said the Garage Starbucks was a good location to avoid crowds of tourists.

“That other Starbucks is the one where all the tourists are,” Schumer said, referring to the Harvard Yard location. “If I wanted to get a quick drink, this has always been the spot for that. Plus, it has the nicest study vibes of all the coffee shops.”

If students are still looking for Starbucks lattes to satisfy their caffeine cravings, they can chose from the Harvard Yard location along Massachusetts Ave. or venture outside the Square to the franchise’s Shepard Post or Broadway Marketplace locations.

— Staff writer Ellen M. Burstein can be reached at ellen.burstein@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @ellenburstein.

— Staff writer Sydnie M. Cobb can be reached at sydnie.cobb@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @cobbsydnie.