The 115 year-old Harvard Cooperative is going for a new look and a new attitude.

Last week, the Harvard Square Coop began a full gutting of their 1400 Mass. Ave. property and a "cosmetic renovation" of the Book Building on Brattle and Palmer Streets, according to Martin R. Flanagan, construction supervisor of the project.

The restructured Coop will be fronted by a trade bookseller similar in format to Barnes and Noble, complete with couches and a "Coop Cafe."

The Coop's grand renovation plans coincide with brighter financial news for the business which has reported losses for the past three fiscal year.

While he said he cannot be certain until the fiscal year is over, General Manager of the Coop Allan E. Powell said "we expect this year to earn a profit."

Generally when the Coop has turned a profit, it has given its members a rebate. If this happens, it would be the first time in four years.

"That would be a step in the right direction," said Jeffrey S. Gleason '99. "I'd like to see the business succeed."

Renovations

By late fall, the "Great Hall," a section of the Coop which has sold Harvard insignia merchandise for generations, will be totally revamped to become part of the Coop Book Store.

Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy Jr. '73 said Harvard deserves the "finest academic bookstore in the world," and the Coop hopes to fill that role.

The current Book Building will be converted into a "collegiate Coop," stocking dorm and school supplies, prints, insignia products, textbooks and basic men's and women's wear and is scheduled to open before the back-to-school rush.

According to Murphy, this multimillion dollar project will be the largest scale renovation since the Cooperative moved into its current location on Mass. Ave. in the 1920s.

Murphy said the Coop has been planning a change of direction for years.

After several years of "self-assessment and strategic planning," the Cooperative Society decided to change its format from a "department store model" to an "academic bookstore that happens to sell other things," Murphy said.

Coop officials said the enterprise needed to alter its focus to remain viable.

"It is unrealistic for the Coop not to change with the rest of the world," Powell said. "This is about survival."