News Flash: Memory Shop and Anime Zakka to Open in Harvard Square

A snapshot of Asian culture will light up Harvard Square with the anticipated openings of photo booth store Memory Shop and Anime Zakka this June.

Father and son pair Henry and Brian Cheung are separately opening Korean-style photo booth store Memory Shop and Anime Zakka — a family-owned Japanese anime shop — in The Garage on JFK St.

Brian Cheung, a senior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said he was inspired to open Memory Shop after traveling to Vietnam last summer. He noticed that photo booth stores were very common in Asia, and he wanted to bring the experience to the United States.

“Some streets had four photobooth stores on the same street,” Brian Cheung said. “To be honest, we went to every single one, and it was just a super fun experience.”

“I was like, ‘If it’s this fun, why don’t we have something like this in Boston?’” he added.

Brian Cheung opened Memory Shop on Newbury St. in September 2024, and is now planning to expand into Harvard Square. He said he is eager to harness the “Harvard energy” of the Square to serve the “college crowd” and “local visitors” that frequent the area.

He added that the store will bring back the vintage charm of Harvard Square that he remembers from his childhood.

“Ever since I was a kid, I remember Harvard Square being that vintage place where you can hang out,” Brian Cheung said. “There’s a lot of small things you can do, but lately I feel like it lost a little bit of fire — there’s something missing.”

Henry Cheung, who grew up visiting Harvard Square and ran an Anime Zakka store in The Garage from 2012 to 2021, agreed with his son.

“Harvard Square is supposed to be like, very local, school area,” Henry Cheung said. “But now? Totally different. All the big corporations there, they don’t even know who you are.”

But Brian Cheung said he believes his family’s businesses will help change that trend.

“Just bringing back Anime Zakka plus Memory Shop in that main Harvard Square center would boost the fun that everyone can have,” he said. “Our end goal is just to have everybody have fun. We just want everyone to make memories of each other, bring it home, share with their family.”

Henry Cheung echoed his son’s sentiments, and said he was motivated to bring Anime Zakka back to the Square to “make the customer happy” and provide a way for residents to “buy a lot of anime stuff locally.”

“This is my passion,” he added. “If the customer is happy, I’ll be happy.”

Henry Cheung, whose family partly comes from Japanese descent, was inspired to start Anime Zakka after seeing local stores only selling comics and superhero content. He hopes Anime Zakka will attract more customers to Harvard Square through authentic anime products imported from Japan.

“Japanese culture is always the top culture people looking into,” Henry Cheung said.

Harvard students are excited for the Asian culture and friendship-building activity Memory Shop and Anime Zakka will bring to the Square.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Ashley B. Ding ’28 said. “I’ve only been to a photo booth in New York or Korea, so I’m glad there’s one coming in Cambridge. I’ll definitely go.”

Kylie S. Oh ’28, who also went to photo booths in Korea, said the activity “holds very fond memories.”

“I actually have the photo strips up by my room,” Oh added. “So I think having this in Cambridge is very full circle. So super exciting.”

—Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.