HRE's attempt to foster fledgling businessesmay seem like an improbable show of selflessness,but officials prefer to call it "enlightened selfinterest."
"Harvard Real Estate is the part of HarvardUniversity that's most outside of the Yard andmost in the community," explains Beth Wall, HRE'sdirector of communications and communityrelations. "We've got to humanize Harvard for thecommunity."
Demong likens the possibility for economicgrowth in the Square to the rejuvenation whichtook place in Boston's Quincy Market during the1960s.
"Years ago, it was a very tough part of town.It was basically the back of City Hall," Demongsays. "Then it became a Mecca for funky littleshops."
But in the past 15 years, Demong says, thenumber of stores in Quincy Market has declinedfrom 68 to about 15.
"It's very clear we don't want that to happenin Harvard Square," Demong says.
HRE officials say they try to balance theirgoal of appeasing the community with their basicneed to receive rent payments on time by selectingtheir tenants very carefully.
"The ideal tenant," Demong says, "is locallyaimed, locally based, maybe with three or fourstores in the Boston area. I think [localmanagement is] important for the success of theretailer or the tenant."
Demong holds up Au Bon Pain as an example ofsuccess through careful tenant selection: the"flagship" Au Bon Pain, located in Harvard Square,was only the fourth store to open--in the daysbefore Au Bon Pains began to appear on everycorner in Boston.
Now Louis Cain, the chain's original owner, hastaken the famous "French Bakery Cafe"international.
Au Bon Pain is not alone in basing huge successon a Harvard Square start, says Demong. The firstfranchises of the Lodge and the Coffee Connectionalso began here.
Furthermore, HRE has taken on some highlysuccessful small businesses like the Harvard BookStore, CitySports and the 8 Holyoke Grill, whichopened just two months ago.
Unfortunately for Cambridge residents, notevery small business is as successful as theHarvard Book Store, and HRE will only be able tokeep leasing to local businesses as long as peoplecontinue to spend money in those stores.
No Fairytale Ending
Despite Harvard's interest in fostering smallbusiness growth, the economy of the Square seemsto be headed toward large, franchise stores.
Old-time residents may pine for the fairytaleSquare of yesteryear, but today's busy shoppersseem hardly to notice the change as they hurryfrom BayBank cash machines to the sale racks atThe Gap.
Sullivan, however, says he seldom visits themodern, commercial Square. When he does, he says,it's for a very practical purpose: "for my watchmostly."